Rajkot: A commission agent in Upleta town of Rajkot was duped of Rs 79.71 lakh after falling for a fraudulent investment scheme promising high returns from a supposed gold mining venture. Sanjay Patel, 45, who runs a commission agency at the Upleta market yard, lodged a complaint against a woman named Preeti Gupta from Dehradun.Patel accepted a Facebook friend request from a profile named Preeti Gupta in Nov 2024. Preeti told him that she ran a boutique and cosmetics mall in Dehradun.During their conversations, she introduced him to an app called BCG BRRICK, claiming it was a platform for investing in gold mining projects with high returns. Initially, Patel invested Rs 50,000 and received a return of $45, which made the scheme seem legitimate.Gradually gaining his trust, Preeti convinced him to invest in multiple gold mines through the app. Patel said he made several deposits into various bank accounts, totaling Rs 38 lakh. Later, to withdraw the profits and principal, Preeti allegedly demanded further transfers, which resulted in an additional payment of over Rs 41 lakh — but the funds were never returned.Realizing that he had been scammed, Patel blocked Preeti on both Facebook and WhatsApp. According to his complaint, the total fraud amounted to Rs 79.71 lakh by June 17, 2025.
