Indian businessman seeks police help after $120,000 crypto fraud

An Indian businessman has been scammed of up to Rs. 1 crore (approximately $120,000) after investing in a fraudulent crypto investment. The businessman, a resident of Haryana, filed a complaint with the police against the accused, who hails from Ahmedabad.

The Indian businessman is accusing the scammer of breach of trust, cheating, among other things, after allegedly losing funds in the elaborate scam. The 48-year-old Indian businessman reported the incident to the Detection of Crime Branch, citing violations under sections related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.

Indian businessman loses funds to scammer

In his complaint, the Indian businessman claimed he was introduced to the accused by a friend living in the United Arab Emirates. He mentioned that his friend mentioned that the accused was involved in money exchange, but noted that he lacked the necessary licenses. However, the Indian businessman decided to ignore the warning and proceed with the crypto investment.

The businessman explained that after discussions between his Dubai-based friend and the accused, a WhatsApp group for cryptocurrency investments was created. The complainant claimed that on September 18, he sent Rs. 1 crore through an angadia firm from Delhi to Ahmedabad.

An Angadia is a service that functions as a parallel private banking or courier system, which is usually used to transfer large sums of money or expensive items between cities.

After receiving the funds, the accused transferred 111,871 USDT into a crypto wallet, building trust. After the first transaction, the Indian businessman decided to carry out more transactions with the accused. In addition, he introduced several clients of his Dubai-based friend to the accused.

On September 19, the businessman claimed he transferred an additional Rs. 8.50 crore through an angadia firm to Ahmedabad.

However, the Indian businessman claimed that the accused failed to transfer the corresponding USDT to both his wallet and that of the other clients. He noted that instead of carrying out the service like he did the first time, he started offering excuses and even went as far as avoiding communication.

The Indian businessman claimed he was able to retrieve Rs. 2.1 crore and another Rs. 6.40 crore from the accused, but claims he is still missing Rs. 1 crore and the remaining USDT that he was promised.

This scam mirrors the rising criminal activities that have been reported in the Indian crypto industry since the beginning of the year. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, the Central Bureau of Investigation carried out a raid under Operation Chakra-V against cybercrime, arresting five suspects in connection with the HPZ token scam. The CBI claimed that their search revealed a large-scale operation being run by foreign entities.

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