A 33-year-old chief financial officer in Ahmedabad lost $81,700, or ₹78.99 lakh, in a cryptocurrency investment fraud that began with a match on a matrimonial app, according to police. Investigators have linked the case to an organized network accused of using the same method against victims across India.

Matrimonial match turns into crypto fraud

Hardik Chandrakantbhai Soni, a resident of Vadaj, downloaded the Sangam app in March 2025 while looking for a partner. On May 8, 2025, he matched with a profile using the name Harshitha Gondawith. Within days, their conversations moved from the app to WhatsApp.

Police said the woman gradually shifted the discussion toward cryptocurrency over the following weeks. She told Soni she had made large trading profits and claimed those gains had enabled her to buy a house in central Berlin. She also used videos to support the story, according to the complaint. Soni initially rejected the investment pitch, but police said repeated persuasion eventually convinced him.

The woman directed Soni to a trading website listed as m[.]bitcoin-on[.]com. To register, he was asked to provide his name, email address, phone number and driving license details. A customer support agent then instructed him to transfer money into a changing set of bank accounts. Each time he sent a screenshot of a transfer receipt, his dashboard showed a corresponding USDT credit.

The deposits were accepted between May 8, 2025, and January 26, 2026. Individual payments ranged from $104, or ₹10,000, to more than $10,355, or ₹10 lakh. In total, Soni transferred $81,700, equivalent to ₹78.99 lakh.

The account balance and claimed profits shown on the website continued to rise, but police said the figures were fake. When Soni tried to withdraw his principal and the supposed gains, the operators began demanding additional payments described as taxes, processing fees and verification charges. Some of those extra payments were completed, but no money was returned to him. Such demands are a common warning sign in online investment fraud cases, where victims are shown controlled account dashboards but are unable to withdraw real funds without making further payments.

Soni first filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. An FIR was later registered with the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police.

According to the complaint, the matrimonial profile Harshitha-FS64217032 was linked to the WhatsApp number used in the operation and to the wider scam. Police do not believe Soni was the only victim.

Other Indian professionals targeted in similar crypto scams

Cryptopolitan previously reported a similar case involving a civil contractor named Ramesh, who lost about $200,000, or ₹1.67 crore, to a woman calling herself Priyanka. She met him on a matrimonial website and claimed to work for a crypto trading firm based in Singapore.

Ramesh’s first deposit of ₹50,000, or about $600, appeared to generate an immediate profit of ₹8,300, or about $100. That led him to make much larger transfers through both UPI and bank channels. When he attempted to withdraw funds, his wallet was locked. The scammer then demanded another ₹25 lakh, or about $30,000, before disappearing.

Cryptopolitan also reported another incident involving Ashok Vijayvargiya, a 70-year-old chartered accountant and Chief Returning Officer of the Madhya Pradesh Chamber of Commerce. He was defrauded of ₹21.06 crore, or about $2.2 million, after becoming acquainted on social media with a con artist who identified herself as “Divya.” The fraud followed the same pattern of fake profits and blocked withdrawals.

These cases show how fraudsters combine relationship-building with familiar payment rails such as bank transfers and UPI, while using cryptocurrency terminology and simulated USDT balances to make the scheme appear like an investment platform. Cybercrime expert and former IPS officer Prof. Triveni Singh said criminals often use matrimonial and social platforms because a level of trust is already present before money is introduced. He said people should conduct their own research before sending money to any investment platform. He added that property videos or screenshots used to support promised returns should be treated as red flags.