Stacy Pereira
- A civil contractor in India lost $200,000 after being lured into a fake crypto investment by a scammer posing as a bride.
- The scammer used social engineering and showed fake trading app profits to build trust before blocking the victim.
- Police have launched a cybercrime investigation, urging citizens to remain cautious.
An Indian civil contractor, identified as ‘Ramesh’, was defrauded of approximately $200,000 after being lured by a fraudster posing as a prospective bride on a matrimonial site. The fraudster, posing as ‘Priyanka’, initiated contact via WhatsApp on April 11, presenting herself as a potential bride, based in Singapore.
Priyanka claimed she worked for a U.S.based crypto trading company and persuaded the victim to invest in the trading firm, promising fast returns. Though hesitant at first, the victim eventually gave in and transferred ₹50,000 (~$583) on April 13 to a bank account provided by the scammer. ‘Ramesh’ earned a profit on that trade of around ₹8,300 (~$100), enough to build his trust.
Encouraged by the early success, he continued to deposit larger sums via bank transfers and UPI. A Unified Payments Interface or UPI is a real-time payment system developed by India’s National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
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Between April and June, Ramesh had invested a staggering ₹1.67 crore (~$200,000) into the fake crypto app. But when he attempted to withdraw, the app blocked his wallet, claiming additional fees were required to release the funds. Pressured to remit another ₹25 lakh (~$29,175), he refused. Suddenly, “Priyanka” disappeared—blocking him on WhatsApp and deactivating her number.
Realizing he’d been scammed, the 36-year-old victim reported the incident to the Police in Telangana state in India. The local authorities have since registered a case under charges including cheating, forgery, impersonation, and misuse of electronic media under the IT Act. Police are currently examining the information related to the beneficiary accounts and 5 phone numbers that were used by the scammer.
There is a growing threat of romance-driven crypto fraud, where victims are meticulously groomed emotionally before being lured into fake investment schemes. Experts warn that once cryptocurrency is transferred, it is almost impossible to reverse.
