A 28-year-old student enrolled in an MBA program at a college in Nagpur, Maharashtra, was allegedly tricked out of Rs 23 lakh after being promised large profits on cryptocurrency investments, the police said.

The fraudster, who duped as an investment advisor, approached the student through the online messaging platform Telegram in November of last year. The scammer baited the student into investing in a cryptocurrency scheme that promised him good returns. 

The student, who hailed from Hooghly in West Bengal, deposited around Rs 1,000 into an unknown bank account as asked by the person and later received Rs 1,400 back. The officials said that the cybercrook gained the students’ trust in the scheme through this. 

The student later ended up depositing an aggregate amount of Rs 23 lakh into the same bank account over a period of time with the hope of getting similar returns. 

However, he did not obtain the promised returns, nor was he able to recover the invested amount, the official said.

A case has been registered under specific provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. A probe into the same is underway.

(with inputs from PTI)