Fake crypto exchanges duped Indian investors of Rs 1,000 cr: Report

business-standard.com:

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 on Tuesday.

Cyber-security company CloudSEK said 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 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 investors shift their focus on the cryptocurrency markets, scammers and cheats turn their attention to them as well,' Sasi added.

Threat actors first create fake domains 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 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 legitimate crypto exchange," the report mentioned.

The victim initially makes a significant profit, which bolsters their trust in the platform and the threat actor.

After the victim seemingly makes a profit, the scammer