A Hyderabad-based Indian man has been defrauded of Rs 80 lakh ($104,437) in a scam cryptocurrency investment.
How It Happened According To The Victim
According to a complaint filed today by the victim referred to as Mahesh, he had invested $104,437 in a cryptocurrency exchange between December 2021 and April 2022.
Mahesh explained to authorities that a friend introduced him to the exchange last year, and he began investing in the platform.
In the complaint, he disclosed that his first investment was Rs 30,000 ($391), which earned him an ROI of Rs 1 lakh in a short while.
Out of excitement, the victim put more funds into the investments to further increase his profit.
However, Mahesh added that he found out he had been the scam victim after he had issues withdrawing his funds.
“He was unable to withdraw the money from his wallet and when he contacted the fraudsters, they asked him to pay Rs 35 lakh to unlock the wallet. He refused to pay and subsequently the URL became defunct. Realizing he was duped, Mahesh lodged a complaint with us,” ACP KVM Prasad told Times of India today.
Although Mahesh did not reveal the exact cryptocurrency he had invested in, he disclosed that he invested in a cryptocurrency exchange whose URL ended with an extension ‘.ac.sh’.
The report added that following his reports to authorities, a case has been established against the fraudsters under sections 66-C and 66-D of the Information Technology Act.
Increasing Cases of Crypto Fraud and Theft
As cryptocurrencies become more valuable and popular, scammers are on a rampage looking for ways to rid people of their assets to enrich themselves. They have deployed numerous means to achieve this purpose.
There have been many issues of rug pull scams and heists resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in fake crypto projects.
Another means scammers are developing are phishing sites to steal recovery phrases and gain access to victims’ funds.
As usual, investors are urged to always do proper research before committing their money to any platform or project, as it would reduce their chances of being ripped.
