Mumbai: Fan trusts actress, loses Rs 52,000 to scamster

The victim, Parmesh Shankar Maitri

The Sahu Nagar police have registered an FIR against Indian television actress Sonarika Bhadoria after a fan watched a video on her feed and invested in crypto-currency, only to lose Rs 52,000. The police claim that Bhadoria uploaded a promotional video on her Instagram account, directing her followers to a scamster account.

The victim, Parmesh Shankar Maitri, a 29-year-old resident of Indira Nagar in Dharavi and an event organiser, is an avid fan of Bhadoria and had been following her on Instagram. The Sahu Nagar Police have also booked the unidentified scamster involved in this case and will be summoning Bhadoria for questioning.

Speaking to mid-day, Maitri stated, "I am a big fan of Bhadoria and have watched all her films. On September 3, I noticed that Bhadoria had uploaded a video on her account: @bsonarika."

Sonarika Bhadoria

In the video, Bhadoria said, "Hi guys... since many of you have been asking me how to earn money online in this digital era... this is the most trusted page, @ishika_jaiswal, where you can earn a lot of money. So, go ahead... follow her page, follow her process, and start earning."

Maitri saw this video and sent a message to the @ishika_jaiswal page account. The scamster responded, "Hello, are you interested in earning money through trading?", to which Maitri replied in the affirmative. The scamster then told Maitri that she was a trader. "We will invest your money in crypto-currency. By investing here, you will receive a good profit in just two hours of trading, as well as from gold trade on the Thai exchange. We also engage in second intra-trading and sniper trading on the NYSE."

Maitri admitted to mid-day that he trusted Bhadoria and sent a payment of Rs 10,000 via UPI, providing a screenshot of the payment to Ishika Jaiswal. The scamster created an account for Maitri and later, the scamster requested an additional payment of Rs 18,000 for a login, which Maitri promptly sent.

A few hours later, the scamster messaged Maitri, congratulating him. "Your investment has been successful. You will receive Rs 32,000 and your security deposit of Rs 18,000. Within the next 15 minutes, you will have a total of Rs 64,300. However, you need to pay a withdrawal fee of Rs 24,700 rupees, which will be refunded, and you will receive Rs 99,800 rupees."

As Maitri did not have sufficient funds, he did not send the money on the same day, requesting more time. On September 4, the scamster sent Maitri a video showing the trading page with his name, Parmesh Maitri, and displayed a profit. Maitri managed to arrange the funds and sent Rs 24,700 to the account.
After this payment, the scamster demanded an additional Rs 19,999 as late fees. Maitri grew suspicious and requested that all the money he had sent be returned.

It was then that Maitri understood he had been cheated by the scamster. He promptly informed the police about the incident on September 5 and registered an FIR. Maitri said, "I also messaged actress Sonarika Bhadoria about the incident, but she did not respond. I invested money because the actress posted a video on her Instagram page. Bhadoria is solely responsible for this incident, and she should not promote anything that may deceive her fans."

"I request that she refrain from publishing such videos without proper verification," he added. Speaking to mid-day, PSI Umesh Vichare of the Sahu Nagar police station said, "We have booked actress Sonarika Bhadoria for promoting a video on her Instagram page that directs followers to earn money. We will summon Bhadoria for questioning and record her statement. If we find anything incriminating, we will take action." The FIR has been registered under IPC sections 419, 420, 66(d), and 66(c). mid-day also tried to contact a Bhadoria, but she didn't respond to calls or messages.