Ahmedabad: A 70-year-old advocate from Shilaj was allegedly duped of Rs 57.9 lakh in a cyberfraud after a woman befriended him on social media and proposed marriage with plans to settle in Italy’s Milan, only to lure him into a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme. This was revealed in a complaint filed with cybercrime police on Tuesday.According to police, the victim, who works as a legal consultant from home, came in contact with the woman in Nov 2025 through Facebook. Introducing herself as a well-travelled finance professional, she gradually gained his trust through frequent chats and video calls. During the interaction, she proposed marriage and spoke about settling together in Milan, which further strengthened the victim’s confidence in her.Police said the woman later convinced him to invest in cryptocurrency trading through a platform called “CBOE US”, claiming it offered assured and high returns. She shared a link to download the application and guided him to create an account and begin trading in USDT.Initially, the victim invested Rs 50,000 and received a return of Rs 5,000, which was credited to his bank account. He subsequently received additional withdrawals totalling Rs 2.1 lakh, reinforcing his belief that the investment was genuine.Encouraged by these returns and repeated assurances, the victim transferred larger sums over multiple transactions to different bank accounts provided by the accused and alleged customer care executives.Police said the victim’s account later showed substantial profits, but when he attempted to withdraw funds, he was asked to pay a large “tax”. When he refused and sought deduction from his balance, the accused stopped responding.Realising he had been cheated, the victim approached the cybercrime helpline and later lodged a formal complaint. Officials said only Rs 2.1 lakh was returned, while the total investment was Rs 60 lakh.A probe was launched to trace the accused and track the money trail.
