Five Arrested in India for $700K Crypto Fraud Scheme

Indian authorities recently apprehended five individuals, including one woman, involved in a sophisticated crypto scam that defrauded a businessman of nearly $700,000.

The suspects are accused of deceiving the victim by impersonating a legitimate Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and manipulating him into transferring large sums through a fraudulent platform.

This operation highlights the increasing concerns around cryptocurrency-related frauds in India, with the government taking strong measures to combat these scams. The arrests were made after an investigation by Odisha’s Cybercrime Unit, revealing a well-organized scheme involving a fake crypto trading app, ZAIF. While ZAIF is the name of a legitimate Japanese exchange, it had suffered a major hack in 2022, and the criminals in this case are not linked to it.

The scam began when a woman posed as a software developer from Hong Kong on social media, gaining the victim’s trust. She convinced him to invest by promising high returns, making him transfer approximately $700,000 into accounts controlled by the fraudsters over a span of one month. As the victim sought to withdraw his funds, the scammers demanded additional money, threatening to withhold his investments. When he refused, the scammers disappeared, but the police managed to trace them using digital evidence and financial records.

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In a separate development, authorities in Srinagar recently arrested eight individuals involved in another crypto fraud scheme, this one totaling over $244,000. The scammers operated a fake crypto and forex platform, convincing over 5,000 investors to contribute significant amounts under the guise of guaranteed returns.

These incidents come at a time when concerns about crypto scams are rising globally, with some prominent figures, including Peter Schiff, openly criticizing the industry.

Alexander Zdravkov