Case against 6 for cheating man of Rs 87 lakh in cryptocurrency fraud

Thane: The Navi Mumbai police have registered a case against six persons for allegedly duping a man of Rs 87 lakh after promising him high returns in cryptocurrency trade, an official said on Sunday.

Since May last year, the accused lured the 48-year-old victim to join a WhatsApp group for the purchase of USDT (cryptocurrency) and made him pay Rs 87,48,141 on different IDs for it, cyber police station's senior police inspector Gajanan Kadam said.

After he made the payments, the accused did not respond to his call. Realising that he had been cheated, the man approached the cyber police with a complaint, he said.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on Friday against the accused under sections 319(2)(cheating by personation), 318(4)(cheating) and 3(5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Information Technology Act, the police said.