A 53-year-old woman from Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, has been defrauded of Rs78.82 lakh in a long-running crypto investment scam, police said. The alleged fraudster, Zuber Khan, promised high returns through cryptocurrency trading, luring the victim via a Facebook advertisement in 2020.
According to the Kharghar Police, the woman first interacted with Khan after seeing his crypto investment post on Facebook. Claiming high returns, Khan instructed her to install trading apps such as The Champ Coin and Binance, and to invest in various crypto tokens.
Between October 3, 2020, and March 25, 2025, she transferred Rs78.82 lakh to Khan’s bank account. However, she received only Rs3.51 lakh in returns. When she later demanded the remaining money, Khan allegedly asked for an additional Rs26.70 lakh, under the pretext of releasing the full amount.
Realizing she had been duped, the woman lodged a complaint at the Kharghar Police Station. Based on her statement, police have registered a case against Zuber Khan under relevant cheating sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
The matter is currently under investigation.
