A government official in Gurgaon was cheated of Rs 40 lakh over 10 days after he invested in cryptocurrency through links sent by unknown persons on Telegram, the police said. The complainant, Vipin Yadav, stated in the complaint registered at the Cybercrime police station, South, that he lost Rs 40,18,000 after being promised attractive returns on the money he invested. “On July 6, I received a link on my Instagram app to invest in Crypto Currency. When I clicked on that link, it redirected me to the Telegram app. Inside the Telegram app, there was a group with five members who were all investing in cryptocurrency. According to their instructions, I also invested in Bitcoin through a link. Initially, I invested Rs 1,000, and I received a return of Rs 1,400. Following that, they asked me to invest a larger amount, and I agreed. However, after making the larger investment, I did not receive any returns,” he stated, listing the transaction details through his accounts in Canara Bank, ICICI Bank and UPI transactions. The police registered a case on Wednesday though the complaint was lodged on July 18. “We had to collect all details and conduct a preliminary enquiry before registering a First Information Report (FIR). We have looked into the claims of the complainant and are investigating the case,” said Shahid Ahmed, SHO, Cyber Crime police station South,” he added. Yadav, who had earlier purchased shares from the stock market told The Indian Express that he did not think twice before investing in cryptocurrency. He said that an unknown person sent a DM on Instagram, which directed him to Telegram. “They were giving me a steady return until one day they asked me to invest a total of Rs 35 lakh and I knew something wrong was going on. They told me the returns were not being credited to my account because of a glitch and that I would start getting it. Their tasks comprised investing huge amounts of money like a lakh or 80,000 at a time. Once I even got Rs 95,000 in return for Rs 50,000,” explained Yadav, which made him feel that it was a legitimate business. “Slowly, these small slabs of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1.75 lakh turned into Rs 40 lakh,” he added.
Gurgaon govt official loses Rs 40 lakh in cryptocurrency fraud
