India's ₹21 crore crypto fraud traps senior chartered accountant

A 70‑year‑old chartered accountant, Ashok Vijayvargiya, from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, was duped by a WhatsApp message that began, “Hello, this is Divya.” The scammers persuaded him to invest in a fake cryptocurrency trading platform, promising high returns on USDT. Over seven months he transferred a total of ₹21.06 crore (about $2.2 million) through a complex web of more than 20,000 banking transactions involving thousands of accounts. When he attempted to withdraw the funds, the fraudsters demanded additional fees and the withdrawal never occurred. The State Cyber Cell of Madhya Pradesh has filed a case against unidentified suspects and is tracing the accounts, phone numbers and the fraudulent website. The scheme mirrors other recent “pig‑butchering” scams reported in Gujarat and elsewhere, highlighting a growing pattern of sophisticated crypto investment frauds in India.