According to the North Cyber police, Karande, 45, a resident of Kandivali East, lodged a complaint after realising he had been duped. The actor, who lives with his wife and daughter, was initially contacted via WhatsApp and Telegram by a person named Meena Sakpal on February 23. She introduced herself as an employee of a global advertising and marketing technology firm and offered him a part-time job of liking social media videos, promising a payment of ₹150 per video.
Karande was asked to send screenshots as proof of engagement and, within a short time, he earned around ₹11,000 by sharing his bank details with the frauds. Encouraged by the apparent legitimacy of the scheme, he was then directed to download an application and invest in USDT/Bitcoin. His virtual account within the app began displaying significant profits, showing an increase of ₹27.51 lakh. Initially, he was even allowed to withdraw ₹11,000 to gain his trust.
However, when he attempted to withdraw a larger sum, he was informed that his credit score was insufficient. To resolve this, he paid ₹19 lakh, believing it would unlock his invested funds. Soon after, the scammers claimed that the amount was too large to be withdrawn and demanded a 30% tax payment. Trusting the process, Karande transferred an additional ₹17 lakh. When he attempted to withdraw the money again, he was informed that his tax payment had been sent to the wrong account and that no funds had been received. Suspecting foul play, he realised he had been deceived and subsequently approached the police.
A case has been registered against unknown persons under sections 319(2) (cheating by personation), 318(4) (cheating), 336(2) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable documents), 340 (forged document or electronic record), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
