Indian investors have lost nearly ₹1,000 crore to fake cryptocurrency exchanges

Cyber security company CloudSEK said it has uncovered an ongoing operation involving several phishing domains and Android-based fake crypto applications. 

This campaign entices unwary individuals into a big gambling scam. 

CloudSEK was approached by a victim who allegedly lost a 50 Lakh INR cryptocurrency scam. also other costs like deposit amount tax etc. 

Rahul Sasi Founder and CEO of CloudSEK "We estimate that threat actors have defrauded victims of up to $238 million via crypto scams"

As investors shift their focus on the cryptocurrency markets, scammers and cheats turn their attention to them as well Sasi added:

Threat actors first create fake domains that impersonate crypto trading platforms. 

Hackers create a female profile on social media to approach the potential victim and establish a friendship.

The price influences the victim to invest in cryptocurrency and start trading. 

"The profile also shares $100 credit as a gift to a particular crypto exchange which i this case is a duplicate of a legitimate crypto exchange"

The victim initially makes a significant profit, which bolsters their trust in the platform and the threat actor. 

Scammers convince users to invest a higher amount and aim to promise better returns. 

Victim adds their own money to the fake exchange the third actor freezes their account ensuring the victim can't withdraw their investment and disappears with the victim's money. 

Once users add their own money to the fake exchange, then scammers freeze their account, users can't withdraw their investment, and disappears with the victim's money. 

When scammers get different platforms to complain about losing access to their accounts threat scammers reach out to them in the guise of investigators. 

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