Key Highlights
- The ED’s Hyderabad unit froze ₹8.46 crore across 92 bank accounts, including some linked to crypto trading platforms.
- Scammers ran fake e-commerce and “easy money” apps, tricking people into depositing money and then blocking withdrawals once amounts grew.
- Around ₹285 crore was moved through quick-use bank accounts, with some of it converted into USDT and routed through crypto platforms.
In India, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Hyderabad unit has frozen ₹8.46 crore spread across 92 bank accounts, including a few linked to crypto platforms such as CoinDCX, as part of its investigation into a widespread cyber fraud network.
The ED’s press release noted that the action is part of a probe into a massive cyber fraud network that operated through fake e-commerce platforms and “money-making” mobile apps.
The case involves a series of cheating complaints first filed in Kadapa, which later connected to similar frauds across India. The scam was built around fake e-commerce, investment, and “easy money” apps that promised quick earnings for simple online tasks. Apps like NBC, Power Bank, HPZ Token, RCC, and others were used to pull in thousands of victims.
Investigators say the operators approached victims through WhatsApp groups, Telegram channels, and bulk SMS campaigns. People were asked to deposit money into app wallets to earn commissions. Small payouts were initially credited to build trust, but once larger deposits were made, withdrawals stopped working.
Victims were then told to pay additional charges described as taxes or regulatory fees, but even after doing so, they could not recover their funds. Eventually, the apps and websites shut down, support lines disappeared, and users lost access to their accounts.
Money trail through banks and crypto
The ED’s financial investigation revealed that about ₹285 crore from the scam moved through many quick-use bank accounts to avoid detection. Some of this money was also converted into cryptocurrency or sent through hawala channels to hide the trail.
Investigators also found that the fraudsters frequently purchased USDT (Tether) on Binance through peer-to-peer (P2P) trades using third-party payments linked to the scam proceeds. Some sellers on platforms like WazirX, Buyhatke, and CoinDCX allegedly accepted these transfers.
According to the agency, about ₹4.81 crore worth of USDT was converted on CoinDCX using accounts that did not have proper know your customer (KYC) verification.
The ED said further investigation is ongoing as authorities continue to track the flow of illicit funds and identify those responsible for orchestrating the cyber fraud.
India steps up action on big crypto crimes
India’s enforcement agencies are tightening their grip on large-scale crypto frauds as more criminal networks turn to digital assets to hide and move illicit money.
Earlier this year, in Ahmedabad, the ED seized ₹1,646 crore in the BitConnect scam, a global fraud that promised unrealistic high returns through a bogus trading bot and an MLM-style lending program. Other notable actions include attaching ₹296 crore in the OctaFX case and seizing assets tied to Chirag Tomar’s fake crypto-exchange phishing network.
The Gujarat CID recently busted a big cross-border scam where stolen money was converted to USDT and transferred via foreign exchanges.
In the latest arrest, one resident of Surat was accused of helping in the transfer of ₹10 crore through BitGet to a wallet linked to Pakistan, which is believed to be part of a bigger network that had already transferred more than ₹200 crore through mule accounts.
Across these cases, the common pattern is clear: scammers use crypto to quickly move money, hide transaction trails, and shift funds abroad. ED’s investigations have increasingly focused on tracing these digital flows, freezing wallets, and attaching assets linked to fraud networks.
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