Mumbai Fraud News: Byculla Woman Duped Of ₹7.52 Lakh In Telegram-Based Bitcoin Trading Scam

A 29-year-old woman from Byculla was duped of Rs7.52 lakh after falling prey to an online Bitcoin trading scam promoted through a Telegram channel. The fraudsters lured her with the promise of high returns on cryptocurrency investments and systematically extracted money over the course of a month.

According to the FIR, the victim, Pooja Shankar Dabhole, a resident of New Hind MHADA complex in Ghodapdeo and an employee at a Pay and Accounts office in Bandra East, encountered a Bitcoin trading advertisement on May 19 on a Telegram channel named THE STOCK MASTER. Curious, she clicked on the link provided and was soon contacted via WhatsApp by individuals posing as crypto investment advisors.

They initially asked her to invest Rs10,000 using a QR code, assuring attractive profits. Between May 19 and May 22, Dabhole transferred Rs2.29 lakh via UPI and bank transfers. 

On May 22, she was added to another Telegram group named AMIT BTCOIN TRADING COMPANY, where she was encouraged to invest further to maximize her returns. Believing the promises, she made additional payments totaling Rs5.23 lakh by June 26, bringing her total investment to Rs7.52 lakh.

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Despite repeated promises, Dabhole neither received any returns nor was her invested amount refunded. Realizing she had been scammed, she contacted the national cybercrime helpline at 1930 and later filed an official complaint at the Byculla police station.

Police have registered a case against unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the Information Technology (IT) Act. Further investigations are underway.