Conmen have devised a new way to entrap people by adding their cell phone numbers to business trading groups on WhatsApp and cheating them under the guise of earning huge profits through bitcoin trading. A 53-year-old housewife from Kandivli became the victim, losing more than Rs 13 lakh to the fraudsters.

As per her statement given to the police, she was added to a WhatsApp group named ‘BTC Trading Group 111-5’ without her consent. She planned to leave the group but before that, observed some of the activities in the group that had more than 250 people members talking about bitcoin trading. “Some of the people shared screenshots of their investments and the profits made from trading. Convinced that she too could make some money she expressed her desire to invest in bitcoin,” said an officer.