The Indian police have discovered a massive crypto-fraud operation which defrauded over 2,000 people and caused losses in excess of $2,4 million.
In a late-night operation on Sunday, Assam police said they have arrested three individuals in connection with the scam—Asadul Islam, Hashanur Zaman, and Kobad Ali Mollah—all accused of operating a fraudulent scheme under “RSN crypto.”
According to an official, the scam was aimed at residents of Assam, Meghalaya and other nearby states. It lured victims by promising lucrative rewards through a cryptocurrency game known as RSN. India Today NE report.
Investigators revealed each victim was tricked into investing a minimum of $610 (₹ 50,000), with the total amount misappropriated ranging between $1.2 and $2.4 million (₹ 10-20 crore).
Authorities say that Hekmot Al Sarkar remains on the loose, despite their efforts to arrest him.
Decrypt Assam Police has been contacted but as of press time, no response was received.
The scammers used Paytm, PhonePe and other online payment systems to gather funds. These were then exchanged for the Tether Stablecoin USDT on cryptocurrency exchanges prior to transferring them into international accounts.
It was determined that the website used in the scam was actually hosted by Amazon.
The raid resulted in the seizure of several devices including 8 mobile phones, 2 laptops and 11 SIM cards. All contained evidence that was vital to the scam.
Police operations were complicated when it was found that fraudsters were leasing bank accounts out to criminals across the nation.
In India, there is a greater enforcement of the law
It is part of the larger crackdown against crypto frauds in India. This country has seen a rise of Ponzi scams that target vulnerable investors.
Late last month, the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at multiple locations across the country as part of its investigation into the $800 million (₹6,600 crore) GainBitcoin scam.
In Mumbai, Ravi Mahaseth, managing director of Coin ZX, was recently arrested for allegedly scamming investors out of $23 million (₹200 crore).
Coin ZX promised investors high returns for Bitcoin investment, but payments stopped after only a few weeks, resulting in a financial loss.
India’s Directorate of Enforcement seized approximately £190m in crypto assets linked to BitConnect Ponzi, along with a Lexus SUV in black and $15,000 in cash.
Even though this money has been recovered in part, the estimated total value of Bitcoins stolen today is over $11 billion.
Stacy Elliott edited this article.