Two Suspects Arrested By Indian Police in $12 Million Crypto Scam

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According to a recent report, Maharashtra (India) police have detained two people for allegedly orchestrating a crypto scam that defrauded over 1,400 investors and stole approximately $12 million from them. As per Thane Police’s Economic Offenses Wing (EOW), the arrests were made via raid in the Mumbai suburbs of Thane and Powai. According to an EOW investigator looking into the case, the Police detained Ritesh Dilip Kumar Sikligar, alias Pancha, and Mohan Patil, an agent who used to attract clients from all over the country for the agenda. 

Pancha is thought to be the scheme’s mastermind, according to EOW, who obtained Pancha and Patil’s detention until August 20 for questioning. Based on the current information, the police officer stated in court that the scam was worth 6 crores ($750,000). However, Police estimate the total scam to be between 50 and 100 crores, where one crore equals ten million.  

He went on to say that the amount of money connected to each of the 1,400 or so investors varies. However, it is worth noting that 24 investors claimed a total loss of 4.4 million rupees ($55,000). According to the investigating officer, the number is expected to rise.

How Did They Manage to Dupe People?

Scammers’ claims of high rates of return are familiar to investors. They also claimed that the higher the investment, the greater the return. The crypto coins’ names were SMP and Magic 3x, and neither was listed on any exchange. Cryptocurrencies continue to captivate investors, despite market volatility and an ambiguous legal situation. The number of cryptocurrency traders and users is growing. Many are unaware of the risks associated with the volatile cryptocurrency market.
Identity theft and phishing are just two tactics used by cryptocurrency scammers to trick investors into investing through bogus cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to a study conducted by the Indian cyber security firm CloudSEK, such social media scams have cost Indian investors up to $1 billion. As a result, customers are lured into investing through fictitious cryptocurrency exchanges by cryptocurrency fraudsters using various techniques, including identity theft and phishing.

Investors in India have lost up to Rs. 1,000 crores in similar scams spread through social media platforms. The fraud involves the creation of bogus cryptocurrency exchanges that imitate legitimate trading platforms. The scammer then contacts people and offers them a $100 credit note as a welcome gift to the website.

Customers are even given credit for these deals to gain their trust; when they profit from the site, they add money to it. As a result, this is happening worldwide, and we must warn people to do their homework before investing their money in such exchanges.

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About B. Ali PRO INVESTOR

Live webinar speaker and derivatives (Forex, Crypto, and Indices) analyst with a broad range of skills for evaluating financial data, investment trends, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and the best ways to strategies investment selection.  Expertise: Trading Psychology; Speculative Positioning & Market Sentiment; Technical & Fundamental Analysis.