Mahesh, 39, a Hyderabad-based businessman was recently duped of Rs 80 lakh by fraudsters who allegedly operated a fake cryptocurrency exchange. He claimed that between December 2021 and April 2022, he had invested Rs 80 lakh in a crypto exchange whose URL ended with an extension ‘.ac.sh’.
Mahesh has now lodged a complaint with the cybercrime unit. Mahesh told the police that he came to know of the crypto exchange through a friend. The police have now lodged a case under sections 66-C and 66-D of the Information Technology Act, and 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified fraudsters for operating the fake exchange.
Incidentally, this is not the first incident where people have been cheated with such tactics.
A Crypto Crime Report 2022 by Chainalysis, a Singapore-based Blockchain data platform said that cryptocurrency-based crime hit a new all-time high in 2021, with illicit addresses receiving $14 billion over the course of the year, up from $7.8 billion in 2020.
To understand the technological loophole and how cyber authorities are handling such crimes, Outlook Money reached out to some senior police officers who are investigating such crimes, as well as to the technological experts to throw more light on how investors could safeguard themselves.
What Technical Loophole Leads To Such Crimes?
Sandeep Shukla, a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-Kanpur, and co-director of the National…
