Indian police recover $3,000 for a crypto investment scam victim

The Indian police have recovered about $3,000, facilitating the refund to a victim that fell for a fake crypto investment scam online. The refund was facilitated by the cybercrime unit of the Cyberabad police, making it the first time where digital assets lost in a fraud case were recovered.

According to the report, the funds were recovered after legal intervention and international cooperation. The Indian police were able to trace, freeze, recover, and reimburse the victim in this case. In the report sheet, the case was registered with the police on February 2, 2024, with the victim alerting the police immediately they discovered they had been scammed.

Indian police reimburse digital assets stolen by scammers

After the Indian police received the complaint, they kickstarted the investigation, following the digital trail of the transactions. The investigation revealed that the victim was lured into investing 24,275 USDT, an equivalent of Rs. 20.39 lakh, into an online crypto investment scheme. Like every scheme, the scammers promised him returns for every investment he made. The police mentioned that the payments were made to several wallets.

According to the police, the criminals swindled the victim under the guise of entering trading contracts, promising him high returns on his investments. After following the digital trail of the transactions, the Indian police discovered that some of the funds had already been moved to a wallet that had ties to an international cryptocurrency exchange that had their headquarters in Seychelles. The police issued a formal notice to the exchange, requesting for the Know Your Customer (KYC) and wallet details.

The police noted that the exchange was a great help in their investigation, complying with their notice and revealing the identity of the wallet holder. The exchange also confirmed an available balance of 0.03979 BTC, worth about $3,746 or Rs. 3.22 lakh. With the information, the Indian police urged the court for a debit freeze order, which the court duly granted.

After the submission of all relevant documents and transaction flow details, the court directed the exchange to initiate a refund of the frozen assets to the victim’s wallet. Subsequently, about 3,125.42 USDT, worth around Rs. 2.68 lakh was returned to the victim.

Cybercrime police warn of the rise in criminal activities linked to digital assets

Following the case, the Indian police issued an advisory notice on the rise in criminal activities linked to digital assets in the country. While the police highlighted that scammers have also turned up their activities in other parts of the globe, residents should be cautious when relating to strangers that they meet on the internet. They warned the public should refrain from sharing sensitive information with strangers.

The police have also warned about the rise in spate of online investment and trading activities. They mentioned that since more people are now turning to crypto to make money, criminals are now entering the space, disguising their intentions, and scamming unsuspecting users.

These criminals use platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook to target their potential victims. Some even go as far as befriending them for a couple of months before introducing them to the investment. This way, they gain trust and betray that trust by swindling them.

In addition, residents have also been warned to be careful about the kind of apps that they install on their phones. The police mentioned that criminals have gone as far as cloning applications, infusing them with spyware that will help them steal digital assets. They mentioned that, most of the times, scammers present these applications to people as harmless investment apps, with the end game of stealing whatever digital asset the user posses.

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