Over 100 people from various parts of Visakhapatnam have lost crores of rupees in recent months to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency fraud. These frauds came to light after a few victims lodged a complaint with the police.

A resident of Vizag approached cybercrime police, claiming that he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown person introducing herself as a crypto analyst based in Hong Kong. Following her advice, the victim made some investments and initially profited. Along with profits, he invested Rs 9.6 crore, which he was unable to withdraw after a month, and was asked to pay a 10% tax on profits. After paying 10%, he was asked to pay another 20%. This time, he realized something was wrong and contacted the police.

In a similar case, a 40-year-old man was duped into investing in Bitcoin by a scammer. The victim made a profit after investing $1,000. Later, he was asked to invest in a triple profit plan, to which he agreed and invested Rs 50 lakhs, making a profit of Rs 2.5 crores, but when he tried to withdraw the money, it was blocked. He then approached the Vizag cyber crime branch.  

According to the Vizag cybercrime police, similar complaints were filed by victims from various parts of Vizag, and the amount lost is in crores of rupees. An investigation has been launched to track down the perpetrators of this new cryptocurrency/bitcoin scam.