Indian ED has seized yet another enormous sum of assets that have been linked to crypto scams. According to local media reports, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized more assets in India and Dubai valued at Rs 106 crore ($12 million approx.) as part of an investigation against Chinese nationals involved in a cryptocurrency scam in a small state of Nagaland.
This brings the total amount seized in the case to over Rs 603 crore ($71.4 million). The defendants, who included a number of Indian nationals as well, used “HPZ Token” to look for investments in addition to participating in online gambling and betting.
How Did The Scam Work?
According to the report, the defendants deceived the public by promising them enormous profits on their investments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining. The defendant promised a return of Rs 4,000 ($47.34) per day on an investment of Rs 57,000 ($674.53).
The scam comes at a time when India has been seeing a rise in crypto scams and hacks, making many wonder if the government of the nation that stands a little away from pro-crypto regulations will ever turn around to be positive about the sector.
Crypto Scams See A Rise Worldwide
The rise in scams in India is not a standalone trend, but has been seen as a growing concern globally. As UnoCrypto reported earlier, more than $5.6 billion was lost in 2023 as a result of cryptocurrency-related frauds and scams, a 45% increase from 2022.
Most scammers take advantage of the speed and irreversibility of transactions involving digital assets. This also makes the frequency of such events higher.
As scams have become more sophisticated, so too have people’s willingness to invest in riskier assets. One of the most common scam strategies is to get an investor to transfer their cryptocurrency to a new website where the scammer builds confidence by displaying phony large returns.
Investment schemes with a Bitcoin connection accounted for 71% of all cryptocurrency-related losses in the preceding year. Of all the frauds that occur in the industry, the majority of scams and hacks have been caused by North Korean hackers.
The US FBI claims that while cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on publicly available blockchains, which facilitate easy money recovery for law enforcement, funds are often transferred quickly outside, where native nation agents may encounter problems such as lax anti-money laundering laws in certain nations. This makes it difficult to retrieve funds or catch the criminals.