Pune: A man allegedly posed as a woman named Prinsika Joshi on Snapchat, befriended a person and allegedly duped him of around Rs1.5 lakh by luring him into cryptocurrency investments. The Pune cyber police arrested the suspect after uncovering his fake identity.
The suspect has been identified as Kunal Jitendra Admane (25), a resident of the Parvati area. According to the police, Admane had been communicating with the complainant for nearly six to seven months through Snapchat and phone calls.
The complainant received a friend request on Snapchat from an account using the name Prinsika Joshi. After accepting the request, the two developed a friendship and remained in regular contact for several months. After gaining the complainant’s trust, the person behind the account allegedly told him that investing in cryptocurrency would yield substantial profits and attractive returns.
Believing the claims, the complainant transferred 1,468 USDT, worth approximately Rs1.5 lakh, from his cryptocurrency wallet to the wallet allegedly provided by Prinsika Joshi.
However, when the complainant later began asking about the returns on his investment and sought the return of his money, the person allegedly stopped responding. The Snapchat and Instagram accounts were subsequently shut down, following which the complainant realised that he had been cheated.
Given the unusual modus operandi, the cyber police analysed the available technical information, including the Snapchat ID and mobile number used to contact the complainant. During the investigation, the police traced the account to Admane.
The investigation revealed that the person posing as Prinsika Joshi was not a woman but Admane himself. Police said he allegedly created a fake female identity on social media and even spoke to the complainant in a woman’s voice to maintain the deception.
Admane, who is highly educated and has studied hotel management, was subsequently taken into custody and arrested.
The cyber police are now investigating whether Admane created similar fake identities on social media and whether he has allegedly cheated other people using the same method.
