Beware of crypto fraud in your backyard: 4 held in Haryana for duping people in name of Bitcoin

New Delhi: Crypto currencies and trading in digital currencies are enticing people to the enigmatic world of Bitcoins, Ethereum and Dogecoins. However, the crypto trade is fraught with risks. New investors may have sudden loss of fortune and are even prone to trickery and subterfuge by fraudsters.

In a recent incident, 4 people have been arrested in Haryana for allegedly duping people in name of online business involving bitcoin transactions.

Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava said on the arrests, “the mastermind – Harinder Chahal alias Sonu Chahal – tricked victims into believing that he was in possession of bitcoins whereas the wallets held non-spendable (dummy) bitcoins.”

Chahal and his associates used the name of Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with an intention to cheat gullible persons on the pretext of offering them huge returns if they invest money online for bitcoin business, he said.

The state police chief also said the issue came to light recently when Pravesh Kumar, a resident of Sector-23, Sonipat filed a complaint with the police alleging that he was cheated by Chahal, a resident of Hisar district.

“In the ongoing investigation, four accused along with their mastermind have already been arrested,” Mr Yadava said.

Modus operandi of Bitcoin fraudsters

Chahal created a fake Facebook account in the name of one Vikas Kumar and claimed to show the wallet address of the cryptocurrency exchange.

On October 1, 2019, he gave this blockchain address through Facebook messenger and WhatsApp messenger to the complainant (Pravesh Kumar).

Chahal duped Kumar of ₹ 15,50,000 by fraudulently showing bitcoins in his wallet which in reality belonged to the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the police chief said.

“The complainant believed in the accused as 1,871 bitcoins existed in the wallet, which belonged to Binance and not to Harinder Chahal, at the time of the incident and hence got duped of his money,” he said.

Manoj Yadava further said, “It was also revealed that Harinder Chahal has been found in possession of many cryptocurrency wallets but none of them had any actual bitcoins or any form of cryptocurrency.”

“The wallets held non-spendable (dummy) bitcoins which were used fraudulently to trick victims into believing that the accused was in possession of bitcoins which in reality did not exist,” he added.