Belagavi man loses ₹21.94 in online investment scam

The 60-year-old Hindawadi resident lost ₹21.94 million after falling for a YouTube ad promising high returns on stock market investments.

Complainant Kishor told the Cyber ​​Economy and Narcotics (CEN) police that he came across the advertisement on June 20, which had the name of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on it. He registered through the link provided in the ad.

A person identified as Sandeep Sharma later contacted him and added him to the Telegram group. Another person, Priyansh Sharma, allegedly collected ₹22,000 from him through PhonePe.

The accused allegedly persuaded Kishor to invest more with the promise of higher returns and got him to transfer money from his bank account to installments through a website. He claimed that neither his investments nor the promised returns were paid.

CEN police registered a case and started investigation.

Published – 10 Oct 2026 21:11 IST