Youth duped of ₹19.2 lakh in Bitcoin investment scam

A young man was allegedly scammed of ₹19.2 lakh after being lured into investing in Bitcoin on the promise of high returns, prompting him to lodge a complaint with the cybercrime police in Ahmedabad. 

The victim, Dhavalbhai Suthar, is a resident of Nikol who works in the private sector and was initially contacted through a message on Telegram. The sender first mentioned sending a gift and later deleted the message after apologising. The person subsequently introduced herself as “Vamika Reddy”, claiming to be a resident of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and continued the conversation on WhatsApp.

During the chats, the accused reportedly claimed that substantial profits could be made through Bitcoin investments and sent screenshots showing high returns to gain the victim’s trust. Enticed by the claims, Suthar initially invested ₹2 lakh. He was later allowed to withdraw ₹5,000 after being shown a purported profit of ₹21,000, which further convinced him of the scheme’s authenticity.

The accused then persuaded him to invest larger amounts by claiming he had become a “premium customer”. In total, Suthar transferred ₹19.2 lakh in the form of Bitcoin.

When he later sought to withdraw his investment and the promised profits, he was informed that his account had been “frozen”. The accused then demanded an additional payment of ₹15 lakh, or about $15,000, to unfreeze the account.

Realising he had been duped, Suthar approached the cybercrime police, who have registered a case and launched an investigation into the matter.