Bitcoin fraud: 4 cyber scammers arrested from Odisha’s Balasore, Rs 39 lakh bank deposits seized

Four cyber scammers have been arrested for cheating a man of Rs 14 lakh in the name of online trading of bitcoin, police said on Thursday. The accused have been identified as Vivekanand Mallick, Sapan Kumar Dalei, Sunil Kumar Das, and Bijan Kumar Panda, all from Balasore district.

The cyber cops have also seized Rs 39 lakh in total from all of their bank accounts, 10 ATM cards, 5 passbooks, 7 cheque books, a laptop, four mobile phones and a SIM card from their possession.

According to the victim, Pramod Sahu of Chintamaniswar in Bhubaneswar, the frauds first contacted him and said that he could earn lakhs just for liking and sharing videos on Telegram. In the urge of earning easy money, Sahu paid Rs 1,000 and became a member, and started liking and sharing videos.

After gaining his trust, the frauds asked him to pay Rs 50,000 and gave Rs 60,000 in return. Soon realising that Sahu had been manipulated, the scammers convinced him to invest Rs 5 lakh in Bitcoin. Believing them, he invested Rs 5 lakh following which the scammers showed him that he could now get Rs 7 lakh in return.

However, Sahu could not withdraw the amount and contacted them following which they convinced him to deposit more money up to Rs 14 lakh citing several processes for money withdrawal. Sahu finally realised that he was trapped after he was unable to withdraw the money even after depositing Rs 14 lakh in total and approached the cyber police.

Based on his complaint, police registered a case and nabbed the scammers. Even though such scammers are on the prowl across the country and also operating from abroad, the report of the cyber frauds operating from Balasore district has left people in shock. 

Speaking to OTV, ACP (Zone 5) Sanjiv Satpathy said, “The victim was manipulated to invest Rs 5 lakh in Bitcoin with the false promise of high returns. Believing them, the victim invested the money. Later, the fraudsters sent him a screenshot that showed that his investment had now reached Rs 7 lakh. However, the victim could not withdraw the money and contacted the scamsters.”

“They convinced him that there were several modalities to withdraw the amount and he would have to deposit another few lakhs. Believing them, the victim deposited an amount of Rs 14 lakh. However, he became suspicious after he could not withdraw the money even after depositing Rs 14 lakh in total. Later, he approached the cyber police. Based on his complaint, we have made the arrest,” Satpathy added.