Pune woman scammed out of ₹1.32cr by fake crypto friends

India Dec 23, 2025

A 62-year-old man from Pune lost ₹1.32 crore after accepting a Facebook friend request from someone pretending to be a boutique owner.
The scammers gained his trust, pitched quick profits through Tether (USDT) crypto trading, and got him to use a fake app.
Over about six weeks, he made 23 transactions—seeing huge "profits" on the app—but when he tried to cash out, they demanded a 15% tax upfront.

Police investigating similar crypto scams

Pune City Cyber police have filed an FIR and started investigating, with Deputy Commissioner Vivek Masal confirming the case is active.
This scam follows a pattern seen recently in the city, where others have also lost big money through fake Seychelles-based crypto platforms promising easy gains.