Ahmedabad: A 45-year-old land broker from Ahmedabad allegedly lost Rs 90.2 lakh in an online investment scam after a woman he befriended on Facebook and her accomplice lured him into investing in a purported cryptocurrency trading platform, Trust Coin. The cybercrime police registered a complaint in this regard on Tuesday.According to the complaint, the victim received a Facebook friend request in Jan from a woman identifying herself as Madhuri Mehta. After establishing contact, she shared her WhatsApp number and claimed to be earning substantial profits through Trust Coin. She also introduced the victim to a person identified as Charlie, who allegedly shared a trading website link and guided him through the investment process.The complainant created an account using his mobile number, Aadhaar details and email address and initially invested around Rs 1 lakh. The platform subsequently displayed profits approaching Rs 1 crore after he participated in five-day trading contracts.However, when he attempted to withdraw the amount, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 21 lakh, claiming his initial investment was insufficient. He later transferred another Rs 28 lakh after being told his account had entered a high-risk category.The accused subsequently demanded 35,000 USDT to change his wallet address, allegedly claiming that the income tax department and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) suspected money laundering. The complainant approached Sebi’s Ahmedabad office, where he learnt that the documents sent to him were fake.He alleged that he transferred money through bank transactions and cash deposit machines using accounts belonging to his wife and two friends. After losing Rs 70.6 lakh initially, he was persuaded to transfer another Rs 19.7 lakh for wallet recovery. The accused then stopped responding, while others demanded another Rs 15 lakh.The victim approached the cybercrime helpline on April 24 and Oct 24 before filing the complaint.
