Bengaluru: A 34-year-old man from Ullal, West Bengaluru, was conned out of ₹44.97 lakh by a cyber fraudster posing as a potential life partner on a matrimonial website, police officials confirmed.
The victim, Sharan P.S. (name changed), came across a profile named “Archana” on May 5 while browsing a marriage portal. The profile claimed to belong to a woman working in Germany. After accepting his request, she convinced Sharan to continue their conversation over WhatsApp, where they exchanged personal details and built a rapport.
Soon after, Archana introduced Sharan to a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform, www.bitcoin-az.com, showcasing supposed benefits of Bitcoin investments. She guided him to create an account and make an initial transfer of ₹1.5 lakh to a bank account she provided. The fake site displayed a fabricated gain of ₹10,000 to earn his trust.
Over the next month, between May 18 and June 23, Sharan was manipulated into making repeated transfers to seven bank accounts and several UPI IDs, totaling nearly ₹45 lakh. The fraudster remained in constant contact, encouraging him to keep investing with promises of high returns.
When Sharan tried to withdraw the funds, he was told to invest more — a common scam tactic. Eventually, the accused ceased all communication, leaving him defrauded and helpless.
The West CEN police have registered an FIR and initiated an investigation.