Fake cryptocurrency exchanges have duped Indian investors of more than $128 million (nearly Rs 1,000 crore) as the global crypto market tanks, a new report claimed yesterday, as per IANS.
Cyber-security company CloudSEK reportedly said that it has uncovered an ongoing operation involving several phishing domains and Android-based fake crypto applications.
“This large-scale campaign entices unwary individuals into a huge gambling scam. Many of these bogus websites impersonate “CoinEgg”, a legitimate UK-based cryptocurrency trading platform,” according to the report.
CloudSEK was reportedly approached by a victim who allegedly lost Rs 50 lakh ($64,000) to such a cryptocurrency scam, in addition to other costs such as deposit amount, tax, etc.
“We estimate that threat actors have defrauded victims of up to $128 million (about Rs 1,000 crore) via such crypto scams,” said Rahul Sasi, Founder and CEO of CloudSEK, as per IANS.
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First, fake domains are created that impersonate legitimate crypto trading platforms.
The sites are designed to replicate the official website’s dashboard and user experience.
The attackers then create a female profile on social media to approach the potential victim and establish a friendship, the report stated. The profile influences the victim to invest in cryptocurrency and start trading.
“The profile also shares $100-dollar credit, as a gift to a particular crypto exchange, which in this case is a duplicate of a…
