'Hello, this is Divya': How one WhatsApp message allegedly cost a 70-year-old Gwalior CA ₹21 crore
On December 25, 2025, Vijayvargiya allegedly transferred ₹10,000 four times through UPI. A few days later, around ₹1 lakh was transferred through a friend's UPI account.
- Jul 15, 2026,
- Updated Jul 15, 2026 7:00 AM IST
A WhatsApp message that began with "Hello... this is Divya speaking" allegedly pulled a senior chartered accountant from Gwalior into a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme, leaving him poorer by ₹21.06 crore.
Police said the victim, 70-year-old Ashok Vijayvargiya, was convinced to invest in USDT (Tether) through a suspected fake trading platform between December 2025 and July 2026. While the platform kept showing his investment growing to more than ₹33 crore, every attempt to withdraw the money led to fresh payment demands.
The Gwalior State Cyber Cell has so far frozen around ₹2 crore, while the remaining amount is still being traced.
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Small returns gained his trust
On December 25, 2025, Vijayvargiya allegedly transferred ₹10,000 four times through UPI. A few days later, around ₹1 lakh was transferred through a friend's UPI account.
The biggest boost to his confidence came on January 7, when ₹1.88 lakh was credited to his HDFC Bank account as an initial return.
By December 31, Vijayvargiya had already transferred ₹15 lakh through RTGS from his Union Bank account. Over the next several months, crores of rupees were allegedly transferred to multiple bank accounts shared by the fraudsters.
Fake profits worth ₹33 crore
As more money was deposited, the trading portal allegedly showed Vijayvargiya's investment growing rapidly. Eventually, it displayed a balance of around ₹33.25 crore.
However, when he tried to withdraw the amount, the requests were blocked.
The fraudsters allegedly told him that he first needed to pay ₹10.84 crore as income tax before the money could be released. Later, they reportedly demanded another ₹1 crore as a "risk margin", claiming it was needed because the withdrawal amount was too high.
Police freeze ₹2 crore
State Cyber Cell Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sanjeev Nayan Sharma said the case involved one of the country's biggest cryptocurrency fraud networks. "In one of the country's major fraud cases, senior Chartered Accountant Ashok Vijayvargiya was swindled out of ₹21.06 crore under the guise of cryptocurrency, or USDT, trading. The funds were transferred through thousands of accounts across the country using a four-layer structure," he said.
Sharma said the investigation is currently focused on the accounts that directly received the victim's money. "Our technical team is scrutinising 77 first-layer bank accounts, and we have successfully frozen approximately ₹2 crore across various accounts. We are also tracking the IP addresses associated with the fraudulent URLs and WhatsApp numbers," he said.
Case registered
The FIR has been registered against unidentified accused under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act. The FIR records the alleged loss at ₹21,05,92,000.
Police said the complaint was also registered through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the 1930 cybercrime helpline. The prompt reporting helped investigators freeze around ₹2 crore before the remaining money was allegedly moved out of the banking system.
A WhatsApp message that began with "Hello... this is Divya speaking" allegedly pulled a senior chartered accountant from Gwalior into a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme, leaving him poorer by ₹21.06 crore.
Police said the victim, 70-year-old Ashok Vijayvargiya, was convinced to invest in USDT (Tether) through a suspected fake trading platform between December 2025 and July 2026. While the platform kept showing his investment growing to more than ₹33 crore, every attempt to withdraw the money led to fresh payment demands.
The Gwalior State Cyber Cell has so far frozen around ₹2 crore, while the remaining amount is still being traced.
Don't Miss: SC slaps ₹3 lakh fine on Samay Raina, says taken the court for a ride and has brazenly violated the orders
Small returns gained his trust
On December 25, 2025, Vijayvargiya allegedly transferred ₹10,000 four times through UPI. A few days later, around ₹1 lakh was transferred through a friend's UPI account.
The biggest boost to his confidence came on January 7, when ₹1.88 lakh was credited to his HDFC Bank account as an initial return.
By December 31, Vijayvargiya had already transferred ₹15 lakh through RTGS from his Union Bank account. Over the next several months, crores of rupees were allegedly transferred to multiple bank accounts shared by the fraudsters.
Fake profits worth ₹33 crore
As more money was deposited, the trading portal allegedly showed Vijayvargiya's investment growing rapidly. Eventually, it displayed a balance of around ₹33.25 crore.
However, when he tried to withdraw the amount, the requests were blocked.
The fraudsters allegedly told him that he first needed to pay ₹10.84 crore as income tax before the money could be released. Later, they reportedly demanded another ₹1 crore as a "risk margin", claiming it was needed because the withdrawal amount was too high.
Police freeze ₹2 crore
State Cyber Cell Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sanjeev Nayan Sharma said the case involved one of the country's biggest cryptocurrency fraud networks. "In one of the country's major fraud cases, senior Chartered Accountant Ashok Vijayvargiya was swindled out of ₹21.06 crore under the guise of cryptocurrency, or USDT, trading. The funds were transferred through thousands of accounts across the country using a four-layer structure," he said.
Sharma said the investigation is currently focused on the accounts that directly received the victim's money. "Our technical team is scrutinising 77 first-layer bank accounts, and we have successfully frozen approximately ₹2 crore across various accounts. We are also tracking the IP addresses associated with the fraudulent URLs and WhatsApp numbers," he said.
Case registered
The FIR has been registered against unidentified accused under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act. The FIR records the alleged loss at ₹21,05,92,000.
Police said the complaint was also registered through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the 1930 cybercrime helpline. The prompt reporting helped investigators freeze around ₹2 crore before the remaining money was allegedly moved out of the banking system.