Matrimonial Scam Lures Bengaluru Man into Losing Lakhs in Cryptocurrency
A Bengaluru man lost lakhs of rupees in a cryptocurrency scam after being lured by a woman he met on a matrimonial website.
The victim contacted Niharika Mandava, who claimed to be a UK resident originally from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and employed with a logistics company.
Mandava allegedly gained the victim's trust through multiple WhatsApp numbers before encouraging him to invest in cryptocurrency through websites mivonexchg.com and binzoex.com, which are suspected to be fraudulent.
The victim purchased USDT (Tether) through exchanges like Binance, ZebPay, and Mudrex, transferred funds to his Trust Wallet, and then moved approximately 30,000 USDT to multiple wallet addresses. However, when he tried to withdraw his investment, he was asked to pay additional taxes and charges, which he did but was unable to withdraw the funds.
A case has been registered at the Whitefield cyber crime police station on charges of identity theft and cheating by personation under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.