A 70-year-old Indian chartered accountant has lost ₹21.06 crore (about $2.2 million) to fraudsters who befriended him on social media and lured him into a fake cryptocurrency trading platform. The case, reported by the Free Press Journal, is considered by Madhya Pradesh police to be one of the largest online investment scams in the state.
The victim is Ashok Vijayvargiya, a senior chartered accountant who also serves as the Chief Returning Officer of the Madhya Pradesh Chamber of Commerce. The scam began with a simple message: “Hello, this is Divya.” What followed was a slow confidence trick. The scammers showed Vijayvargiya early gains on his cryptocurrency investments on their platform. Believing the returns were real, he kept adding money, and his investment grew steadily, eventually reaching over $2.2 million.
Money Only Went One Way
When Vijayvargiya tried to withdraw his funds, the operators made up excuses to delay the payout. He eventually realized the returns displayed on his screen were never real. The Madhya Pradesh State Cyber Cell has filed a case against unknown suspects. DSP Sanjeev Nayan Sharma, who heads the cell, said investigators are tracing 20 bank accounts, three WhatsApp numbers, and the URL of the fake trading portal. The team wants to follow the IP trail and freeze related accounts before the operators can act.
Meanwhile, in Surat, Gujarat, police arrested Divyesh Patel, a 29-year-old software engineer. A separate victim lost over ₹72.73 lakh (about $76,000) after being tricked into trading cryptocurrencies via Telegram. The victim was directed to a fraudulent trading website and promised huge profits. Like in the Gwalior case, the money then disappeared into a series of other accounts.
Account Used for Fraud
According to police, about ₹17 lakh (around $17,700) of that victim’s money ended up in Patel’s IDBI Bank account. Patel allegedly rented out his banking account to a fugitive accomplice in exchange for a 2% cut on the transactions. The same account has appeared in eight other cyber fraud complaints from various states, investigators told IANS. This case is linked to an alleged fraud worth ₹24.72 crore (about $2.5 million). Surat police charged Patel under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
These arrests come amid growing concerns about crypto fraud. According to Cryptopolitan, the Enforcement Directorate detained Bengaluru hacker Srikrishna (also known as Sriki) in May for a Bitcoin theft case worth roughly ₹11.5 crore ($1.3 million). Cryptopolitan also reported that the FBI recorded $11.4 billion in cryptocurrency losses in the US in 2025, a 22% increase over the previous year.
Police Warning
The Surat Cyber Crime Cell issued a warning alongside Patel’s arrest. Police advised people to verify any unsolicited offers related to cryptocurrency, stock trading, or forex. They recommended leaving and blocking unfamiliar Telegram or WhatsApp groups and treating modest early returns as bait. Police also urged people to report suspected fraud immediately through the cybercrime helpline and cautioned against sending money to strangers met on social media or marriage websites.
