Hyderabad: 'Fraudsters swindle crores in name of cryptocurrency investment': Police

Hyderabad: Regardless of several initiatives and precautionary measures being taken to crack down the cases of cyber-crimes, cryptocurrency investments, there have been at least 20 cases of fraud in the name of cryptocurrency investment under the Hyderabad City Police limits in 2022 alone.

In October-November 2021, there were 15 complaints across the three commissionerates of Hyderabad, Rachakonda and Cyberabad, with the complainants losing around Rs 9 crore in just one month. There was also one suicide reported in Suryapet — a man killed himself after losing Rs 70 lakh after investing in crypto, Telangana Today reported. The amount lost by the victims varies from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

According to police, the fraudsters adopt two modus operandi — one in which they ask investors to purchase and transfer cryptocurrency to an account, the other in which they are asked to send money to a company account that is a fictitious one. The victim’s e-wallet shows a huge profit balance, but when they try to withdraw it, the fraudsters charge them a commission of 35 per cent, which is again a trick to extort money.

“Fraudsters are collecting random mobile phone numbers and adding them to WhatsApp groups. A fictitious group chat is created to convince the victims about the huge profits that can be earned on investments in the crypto market,” a senior Hyderabad Cybercrime official said.

“Inquiries in various complaints have revealed that the fraudsters are mostly foreign nationals based in some far-off country. In such scenarios, recovering money becomes difficult,” the official said.