Three conmen have been arrested in Kolkata (India) for a cryptocurrency fraud that was conducted via social media.
The victim, Shahbaz Akhtar (20) is a student of a well known hotel management institute in Kolkata. According to the report Akhtar saw a money making offer on Instagram on 16th April and was cheated by a proposal of huge profits and high returns from cryptocurrency.
Zafar Ajmal Kidwai from Kolkata Police stated that “The student, Shahbaz Akhtar, had come across a fake profile where one of the accused introduced himself as an expert Shanaya Chauhan. The profile had close to 9000 followers which made him confident to invest. The user claimed to multiply his money in 30 days by investing if he invested in the crypto market.”
Akhtar invested an amount of ₹30,000. Akhtar transferred the amount in the account of the accused person through an e-wallet transfer.
“The accused, following a pre-planned trick, impersonated Chauhan, a crypto currency expert, over Instagram account and induced the complainant to invest in Cryptocurrency”, said the police.
Anyhow, the profile disappeared after a couple of days and this left Akhtar concerned. The money was neither reinstated nor doubled. Akhtar was worried sick and he decided to seek help from the Port division police and an FIR was registered under various sections of cyber crime, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Later on, the cybercrime division investigated the case and followed the money trail which led them to the three conmen. The trail led them to arrest Adnan Hossain (21), Sk Riyazufddin aka Tabrez (18) and Adnan Hossain (21) on Saturday.
Crypto frauds are increasing day by day in India and one such incident recently occured in which two cops from Pune were arrested after the ED found their connection with a crypto related scam.
