A Bengaluru man lost ₹1.29 crore! A shocking story of an online investment scam
Online Investment Scam: Cases of online fraud are constantly increasing in India. Every day, someone is falling prey to cyber fraudsters and losing lakhs and crores of rupees.
Online Investment Scam: Cases of online fraud are constantly increasing in India. Every day, someone is falling prey to cyber fraudsters and losing lakhs and crores of rupees. One such shocking case has come to light from Bengaluru, where a 42-year-old man was defrauded of ₹1.29 crore by a woman he met on a dating app.
A game of trust began with a dating app.
According to the complaint, Jagadeesh C., a resident of Bengaluru, filed a complaint with the North CEN (Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics) police on November 7. He stated that he met a woman on a dating app who introduced herself as Meghna Reddy. During their conversation, the woman developed an emotional bond and gained his trust.
Within a few days, she said she wanted to build an old-age home in his father's name as a charitable initiative. This emotional story completely impressed Jagdish, and he felt he had met a genuine and noble person.
The Lure of Investment and the Scam of ₹1.29 Crore
A few weeks later, the woman suggested he invest money on a foreign investment platform. The website looked absolutely authentic, with graphs, profit screenshots, and investment returns all plausible. The woman showed him fake profit screenshots, convincing him that the investment would be safe and profitable.
Emotionally attached, Jagdish believed this investment would be a good step in his family's memory. With this thought in mind, he transferred approximately ₹1,29,33,253 via RTGS and NEFT over two days, November 5th and 6th. However, after sending the money, contact suddenly broke off; phone calls and messages all stopped. Only then did they realize they had fallen victim to fraud.
Romance scams are rapidly increasing in India
According to cyber experts, such romance scams, or pig-baiting schemes, are now spreading rapidly in India. In these cases, criminals create emotional connections by posing as romantically interested individuals, then extort money from people in the name of investments or crypto trading. These fraudsters not only create fake websites and dashboards, but also prepare fake social media profiles and fake bank screenshots to make their scams appear genuine.
How to Avoid Such Scams
Cyber police advise against trusting strangers online, especially when it comes to money or investments. Verify any scheme before investing, and report any suspicious links or profiles immediately. It's difficult to predict when online conversations that begin in the name of love can turn into fraudulent activities, so caution is the best defense.
