‘Get Ready for Your Rs 2 Crore Profit’
These days, it is getting more and more difficult to protect yourself from some of the most popular online scams in India, such as part-time job scams, fake army officer scams, SIM card swapping scams and remote access scams. But what if we told you that crypto investors now need to be on guard against a new crypto scam as well?
In this particular case, as reported by the Times of India, a 53-year-old engineer from Bengaluru lost a whopping Rs 95 lakh to a scammer who tricked him into investing in Bitcoin.
The man, a resident of Shanti Nagar, met a woman named Sonia Shenoy on the social media platform Instagram and she befriended him years ago in 2021. Now in the last two years (2022 and 2023), he invested Rs 95,000 in Bitcoin.
The woman made false promises that included assuring the victim that she worked for a multinational company that traded in Bitcoin.
“Trusting him, I invested in June 2022. In July, he told me that my winning of Rs 2 crore was ready but I had to pay Rs 50,000 for TDS,” the man alleged in his official complaint.
As most people would do in such a case, the man ended up arranging 50 lakhs more than the promised 2 million in return.
The man explained that he had to arrange funds by taking out personal loans from different banks. “He then told me that the Rs 2 crore winnings will be transferred to my account soon. I waited till I realized that I had been cheated.”
How to protect yourself from such scams
Whether it’s a job scam or a crypto investment scam – the modus operandi remains the same. The scammer contacts you, promises a high and unrealistic return on investment, and in order to earn your trust, pays even small fees at first. But things go sour when they ask for big investments and then naturally when the victim asks for their returns they are told that they have to pay a certain fee or pay a little more to release (in this case TDS) the money. This loop continues, and the victim is trapped in a fraudulent scheme.
Just to be safe, never talk to random strangers on the internet who promise you unrealistic dreams. Also, if you come across an ad that promises the same thing, never click on it.
In addition, such scammers typically use platforms such as Telegram, Instagram and WhatsApp to contact potential victims. So watch out for new people in your DMs and use caution.
