Elderly Indians Lose $431K in Crypto Trading Scam

Two elderly Indian citizens had lost over Rs 3.2 crore in fraud on a fake crypto platform. Through Telegram and WhatsApp, the scammers targeted senior investors.

Hyderabad police unveiled a massive fraud against retired professionals. Two elderly victims had lost their savings to investment fraudsters who approached them through messaging applications and fake trading websites.

The first victim lost Rs. 2.58 crore (310,000) according to the Times of India. The second was a 69-year-old retired bank manager who lost Rs. 63.15 lakh ($76,000). Both incidents were advanced social-engineering scams targeting older investors.

Telegram Group Becomes Gateway to Fraud

The initial victim was a member of a Telegram group called AP Helping Hand India. A man called Aman Kumar approached him, saying that he was a professional stock trader who had good strategies.

Kumar assured the victim that cryptocurrency arbitrage was a good opportunity to make high returns, which made the victim pay Rs 8,500 as a fee to register. He also instructed him to download a crypto wallet known as Base on a malicious link.

According to police, the scammers insisted on personal and banking information on demand as they allegedly needed it to maximise the returns on investment. One of the fraudsters had posed as Ajit Doval, the so-called profit-distribution manager.

Fake Dashboard Shows Millions in Returns

The robbers flaunted a false dashboard that indicated the presence of an account balance of Rs. 4.55 crore ($5.48 million). This fraud compelled the victim to make higher deposits. He moved Rs2.58crore between September 4th and December 27th on investments, taxes, and transaction fees.

Efforts to back out failed on several occasions even following additional tax contributions. The fraudsters proceeded to request another Rs 80 lakh ($96,000) to complete withdrawals. The victim eventually discovered the fraud and reported it to the Rachakanda cybercrime police.

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WhatsApp Scammer Targets Bank Manager

The second victim was contacted on WhatsApp by a person who impersonated a stockbroker based in the United States. According to the police, the 69-year-old was convinced to open an account on a fraudulent trading platform and first deposited Rs 13.56 lakh ($16,300), hoping to get high returns.

The fraudsters continued to charge a greater amount in the form of different charges, and the total loss accrued to Rs 63.15 lakh before the victim ran out of savings. After understanding that the operation was fraudulent, he went to the police.

Criminal charges were brought in accordance with the applicable BNS provisions and the provisions of Sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act. Law enforcers cautioned that the criminals specifically targeted older citizens who had minimal understanding of cryptocurrency. The victims had wanted extra retirement money but got entangled in sophisticated schemes.

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