Ghaziabad, Jan 23: A couple from Ghaziabad in northern India lost more than Rs 56 lakh ($60,932) after being drawn into an online gambling fraud that began with a social media contact and ended with multiple bank transfers to accounts controlled by the perpetrators, police said.
The couple, residents of Mahagunpuram, transferred the money in five instalments between Dec. 29 and Jan. 13 after being promised high returns from online gaming investments, according to a police complaint, as reported by Times of India.
Police said the fraud began in early December when the woman received a follow request on Instagram from a man identifying himself as “Vihaan Sharma”, who claimed to know her. After several weeks of online chats, the conversation moved to another messaging platform.
The man later told her he was an IT manager at Infosys in Kolkata and claimed on Dec. 24 that he had secured a new role at a casino at Macau’s Wynn Place hotel, police said.
On Dec. 25, he sent her a link to what he described as an online gaming and investment platform and promised “staggering profits”, according to the complaint filed by her husband, businessman Nishant Kushwaha.
“My wife played through the man’s gaming ID ‘VIHAAN 1’. Soon she started winning and the wallet reflected a huge amount,” Kushwaha told police.
Investigators said the suspect created multiple gaming accounts for the couple and initially asked them to recharge small amounts to play. The platform showed rising winnings, but when the couple attempted to withdraw the funds, they were told they needed to pay for currency conversion and taxes.
“He made us transfer a total of Rs 56,26,960 to different bank accounts,” Kushwaha said.
A senior police officer stated that the first transfer of nearly Rs 5 lakh occurred on December 29, followed by payments of approximately Rs 9 lakh on January 2, Rs 21 lakh on January 7, nearly Rs 14 lakh on January 10, and around Rs 8 lakh on January 13.
“After that, Sharma asked for more money to release the amount the couple won in these purported investment games,” the officer said, adding that the link led to a casino website. “Sharma used to win the victims and cheat them on the pretext of currency change and tax.”
The couple filed a complaint on Jan. 21 after realising they had been cheated.
Santosh Tiwari, station house officer (SHO) at the Cyber Crime police station, said an FIR had been registered against unknown persons under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. The investigation is ongoing.
