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A retired chartered accountant in Gwalior has lost Rs. 21.06 crore in a fake crypto trading scam that started with a single WhatsApp message. The Gwalior State Cyber Cell is now investigating the case, calling it one of the biggest crypto frauds seen in the state.
The trouble began in December 2025. A woman calling herself ‘Divya’ messaged the 70-year-old man on WhatsApp. She said she was an investment adviser and promised big returns through USDT crypto trading. To gain his trust, she got him to invest small amounts first. The promised returns initially came in, so he trusted her.
Over the following months, the man kept adding more money as the trading app showed his profits climbing. At one point, his account showed holdings worth over Rs. 33 crore. But when he tried to withdraw the funds, the scammers found new excuses. They asked for taxes, then risk charges, then more fees. The money never came back. That's when he realized he had been cheated.
Also Read: How to Recover Lost or Stolen Cryptocurrency: What You Can and Can't Do
Police say the stolen Rs. 21.06 crore passed through a four-layer network of bank accounts. Over 20,000 transactions were used to move the funds across several states, likely through money mules hired to hide the trail. So far, investigators have managed to freeze about Rs. 2 crore. They are now working to trace the rest of the money, find the people behind it, and track the IP addresses used for the fake app and the WhatsApp accounts.
This case is a reminder of how far crypto scams have come. Fraudsters now use real-looking apps, early profits, and trusted platforms like WhatsApp to win people over before vanishing with their savings. Experts advise investors to verify the credentials of investment advisers and avoid schemes that promise unusually high returns.
