The victim, who was unaware on handling cryptocurrency had visited certain groups on Telegrams where discussions on the same took place. He was approached by a hacker who had promised to help in handling bitcoins to ensure high returns.
A private college lecturer from Bengaluru was allegedly defrauded of Rs 10 lakh by a man who promised to help him invest in crptocurrency. A complaint has been lodged at the Central CEN police station in the city, police said.
According to police officials, the 38-year-old victim said that the incident took place on February 22 after he tried to log in to a trading platform to invest in cryptocurrency. “As he was unaware of how to handle cryptocurrency, he had visited certain groups on Telegrams where discussions on the same took place. As he (the victim) had doubts regarding how to use CoinSwitch Kuber, the trading platform, the hacker approached him promising help in handling bitcoins to ensure high returns,” the police said.
After unsuccessfully trying to add Rs 90,000 to his trading account, the victim raised a query on a Telegram group when the alleged hacker sought his credentials, including a one-time password (OTP), and transferred bitcoin worth Rs 10 lakh to another wallet.
The Central CEN police also registered a case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on the complaint filed by the victim, a resident of Palace Gutahalli.
“We are exploring options on how to conduct the investigation. To begin with, we will approach CoinSwitch Kuber as there are no other regulators that can be communicated to take this forward,” the officer added.
As of Wednesday, one bitcoin is worth Rs 40.23 lakh as per data provided by Coinbase Inc.
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