Crypto scammers nabbed in India for $700k fraud posing as a Japanese exchange

Legislation enforcement in India has arrested 5 suspects who allegedly duped a businessman out of roughly $700,000 through a pretend cryptocurrency buying and selling platform.

Based on local media, the 5 suspects, together with one lady, had been taken into custody following an investigation by the cybercrime wing of Odisha’s Crime Department. 

The accused reportedly ran a rip-off utilizing a bogus buying and selling app referred to as ZAIF, the place they promised large returns of as much as 200% on digital foreign money investments. The buying and selling platform was promoted as being based mostly in Japan.

It’s price noting that ZAIF is the identify of a professional Japanese cryptocurrency trade, which suffered a $60 million hack in 2022. Nevertheless, the platform used on this rip-off is probably going unaffiliated and merely borrowed the identify to look credible.

The fraud kicked off when the sufferer, an Indian businessman, was contacted on Fb by a girl claiming to be a Hong Kong-based IBM software program developer. 

She gained his belief and satisfied him to spend money on crypto through ZAIF. Over a month, he transferred greater than INR 6 crore (roughly $$699,352) throughout numerous accounts managed by the scammers.

As is frequent in such crypto buying and selling scams, the sufferer was initially proven pretend earnings on the platform to construct belief. Nevertheless, when the sufferer tried to withdraw beneficial properties, the platform demanded an extra INR 89 lakh to unlock the funds — a tactic generally known as an advance fee fraud.

As soon as the sufferer refused, the scammers vanished, slicing off contact.

Police tracked down the suspects by way of digital trails and banking information. Authorities seized telephones, SIM playing cards, ID paperwork, and different incriminating supplies throughout a raid.

With cryptocurrencies nonetheless operating in a grey area, India stays a hotspot for scams and fraud concentrating on unsuspecting customers. Earlier this month, police cracked down on an analogous rip-off that promoted a pretend token referred to as RSN and promised 2% daily returns. Losses had been estimated to be between $1.14 and $2.29 million.