The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches in Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai, in connection with the alleged conversion of cryptocurrencies worth about ₹600 crore at various Indian crypto exchanges and subsequent transfer of funds to the beneficiaries. The “fraudsters” used spoofed websites to cheat people.
The searches were carried out under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The ED probe is based on a newspaper report that an Indian national named Chirag Tomar was undergoing prison sentence in the United States for stealing over $20 million from hundreds of victims through the use of fake or spoofed websites mimicking the cryptocurrency exchange website, Coinbase.
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The ED investigation revealed that the trusted websites were spoofed in such a way by search engine optimisation that when the website would be searched, the spoofed one would appear at the top.
“The spoofed website appeared exactly similar to the trusted website except the contact details. When the users would enter the login credentials, the spoofed website would show it wrong. Therefore, the users would contact the number given in the spoofed website which would eventually connect them to the designated call centre managed by Chirag Tomar,” said the agency.
Once the “fraudsters” gained access to the victims’ accounts, they quickly transferred the victims’ cryptocurrency holdings to virtual wallets under their control. “The stolen cryptocurrency would then be sold on website localbitcoins.com and converted to Indian currency at domestic crypto exchanges. Subsequently, the money was transferred into the bank accounts of Chirag Tomar and his family members,” an official said.
The main accused’s family had so far received about ₹15 crore. “Several bank accounts pertaining to the Tomar family were freezed during the course of search operation. The amount frozen so far stands at ₹2.18 crore. A similar modus of selling doubtful crypto on local bitcoins and its conversion to INR on Indian crypto exchanges was unearthed during the search operation,” the agency said.
