Crypto Scams: When Fake Celebs Steal Your Rupees Faster Than a Delhi Auto Rickshaw

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Key Highlights

  • Hyderabad businessman loses ₹2.65 crore to a crypto scam so slick, it made him believe Ramya Krishnan was his personal financial advisor.
  • Scammers pull a classic “give a little, take a lot” trick, then vanish faster than a samosa at a free food event.
  • India’s crypto fraud scene is booming-CBI arrests, ₹350 crore Ponzi schemes, and more drama than a Bollywood blockbuster.

In a tale that’s equal parts tragic and absurd, a 69-year-old Hyderabad businessman has reportedly lost ₹2.65 crore (~$291,334) to a cryptocurrency scam. Yes, you read that right. Someone who’s old enough to remember when phones had cords got duped by a digital con artist. The Hyderabad Cyber Crime team is now on the case, because apparently, the only thing growing faster than India’s digital market is the creativity of its scammers.

According to the victim, it all started when a Facebook message from someone claiming to be actress Ramya Krishnan popped up in his inbox. Now, I don’t know about you, but if Ramya Krishnan is moonlighting as a crypto guru, I’d like to see her portfolio first. Anyway, this “Ramya” convinced our businessman to invest in something called Polyus Finance PFP Gold, hosted at the suspiciously flashy pfpgoldfx.vip. High returns? Check. Promises of funding his resort and apparel dreams? Double check. Red flags? Triple check, but he missed those.

How the Scam Worked

The scammers were so good, they made our victim feel like he was winning the lottery every day. Daily chats, fake profit screenshots, and even a small withdrawal of ₹4,300 to seal the deal. Classic “give a little, take a lot” strategy. Feeling emboldened, he sent over ₹2.65 crore in ten transactions between September and December 2025. When he tried to withdraw a larger sum, they demanded a 15% fee. He said no, and poof! The website vanished like a magician’s rabbit-only this time, the rabbit took ₹2.65 crore with it.

The businessman finally reported the scam in February 2026, first on a cybercrime portal and then in person at the Hyderabad Cyber Crime station. The police are now investigating, looking into violations of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. They’re combing through financial records like a detective in a noir film, hoping to catch these digital ghosts.

Recent Crypto Fraud Cases in India

This isn’t an isolated incident. Just days before, the CBI arrested three people in Kerala for a ₹1.86 crore scam involving a senior citizen. The scammers used mule accounts and crypto channels to move the money, proving that fraud is now a team sport. The CBI also raided locations in Goa, Bengaluru, Palakkad, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Delhi, arresting a mule account operator, a shell company operator, and a SIM card fraudster. Turns out, part of the operation was run from outside India-because why limit your scamming to one country?

And let’s not forget the ₹350 crore crypto Ponzi scheme that promised sky-high returns without regulatory approvals. Seven people were charged, and authorities recovered $38,414 in cash and digital assets. The scammers were so sneaky, they kept converting the money into different cryptocurrencies to hide its origins. It’s like a game of digital Whac-A-Mole, but with real money.

Investor Takeaways

India’s crypto market is booming, but so are the risks. Authorities are cracking down not just on individual scammers but on the entire ecosystem that enables them. Cybercrime teams are tracing money flows and communications across borders to uproot these schemes. The goal? To make the market safer, one arrest at a time.

The Hyderabad case is a cautionary tale. Verify investment platforms, be wary of too-good-to-be-true returns, and report suspicious activity immediately. Whether it’s a Digital Arrest scam or a Ponzi scheme, vigilance is your best defense in India’s crypto wild west. After all, the only thing worse than losing your money is losing it to someone pretending to be Ramya Krishnan.

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2026-02-27 07:49