Cyber investigators have said these crypto scams use the same modus operandi as that of the share trading scams. (File Photo)
Pune city cyber investigators are probing yet another online fraud in which scammers posing as a fashion designer and executives of a Seychelles-based crypto exchange duped a senior citizen of Rs 1.3 crore by luring him with promises of high returns on investment in Tether cryptocurrency.
A First Information Report in the latest case was registered at Pune City Cyber police station on Sunday by a 62-year-old resident of Kharadi. Between July and September this year, the victim was manipulated into making over 23 transactions totalling Rs 1.32 crore on the pretext of investment in Tether, which is a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar and is also referred to as USDT.
In the last week of July, the complainant received a friend request on Facebook from a woman who identified herself as a fashion designer named Dakshita who runs a boutique. Over the next few days, the complainant and ‘woman’ communicated with each other and shared details about each other. The woman asked the complainant what he was doing for investments and told him that she was earning huge profits on investments in Tether through a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange. The woman introduced the complainant to a man named Balbir, saying he was executive of the crypto exchange in India and was an expert in cryptocurrency trading. The complainant was made to create an account on a fake cryptocurrency investment application.
Over the next one and half month, the two kept insisting that the complainant invest in Tether and corresponding high gains were displayed on the fraudulent application. Against the total ‘investment’ of Rs 1.32 crore, the corresponding gains displayed in the fake application were Rs 4.2 crores. As the complainant tried to withdraw his earnings, he was asked to pay 15 per cent tax of the total earnings. It was at this point that he realised that he had been cheated and approached the Cyber crime police station. In a very similar case registered in October with Pimpri Chinchwad police a Pune based top telecom executive was swindled of Rs 51 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as a fashion designer from Bangalore and agent of a Seychelles-based crypto exchange who manipulated him into ‘investing’ in Tether.
Cyber investigators have said these crypto scams use the same modus operandi as that of the share trading scams, only instead of investment into shares, they use cryptocurrency investments as bait to manipulate victims into sending money to mule accounts. The Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police have witnessed a worrying surge in online share trading and virtual currency trading fraud cases over the past two years. Fraudsters employ a variety of baits, including trading tips, virtual lectures, mobile applications, and enticing promises of exorbitant returns. Officials have also expressed concerns over citizens continuing to fall prey to these scams in spite of several advisories, sensitisation campaigns and wide media coverage in this regard.