Indian Air Force Veteran Loses $25K to Crypto Scammers in Elaborate WhatsApp Scheme
A retired Indian Air Force officer was defrauded of ₹7.5 lakh ($25,000) through a cryptocurrency investment scam orchestrated via WhatsApp and Telegram. The scammers, posing as 'Harwinder Sandhu,' lured the victim with promises of 50% returns on digital asset investments before draining funds from his UPI-linked account between January 11-17, 2026.
Transactions show suspicious outflows of ₹5 lakh and ₹2.74 lakh on January 17, alongside smaller debits totaling ₹95,200, ₹50,000, and ₹65,000. The modus operandi mirrors classic pig-butchering scams: initial rapport-building through messaging apps followed by fraudulent crypto investment pitches.
While the specific cryptocurrencies involved remain undisclosed, the incident underscores persistent security risks in India's rapidly adopting digital asset market. No exchanges were explicitly named in the complaint.
