‘Fraudsters now eye P2P crypto trading’

Cyber fraudsters are finding new ways to avoid being caught by police and more ways of diverting the money received from the victims so that they can safely convert the fraud amount and escape the clutches of law

Hyderabad: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) crypto trading is another category of cybercrime where victims have to suffer due to a cyber-fraud, said K.Shilpavalli, DCP (Cybercrime), Cyberabad.

Cyber fraudsters are finding new ways to avoid being caught by police and more ways of diverting the money received from the victims so that they can safely convert the fraud amount and escape the clutches of law.

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“With the rise of crypto and the feasibility of doing P2P trading in crypto, the cyber fraudsters identify those doing P2P crypto trading through numerous telegram channels, connect with them and convert the crime proceeds – from INR to Crypto or Crypto to INR,” the DCP said.

Now, the innocent individual eager to make profits by crypto trading via P2P is not aware that he is, in fact, dealing with crime proceeds.

However, when the victim complains on 1930 or cybercrime reporting portal, the transactions made by this individual doing crypto trading is also seen involved and automatically the bank account of the individual gets frozen.

Initially, his bank account will be frozen and eventually, if the amount must be refunded to the original victim, this amount must be refunded by the bank from the individual’s account to the victim.

The DCP remarked that consequently, the fraudster evades with the money converted but the individual who does this crypto trading is put to hardship.

The crypto trading platforms are encouraging P2P mode because earlier the platform’s accounts used to get frozen and amount refunded. But now, the individual is put at risk of knowingly or unknowingly helping the cyber fraudsters converting the crime proceeds to crypto and transfer the funds abroad from India thus making it difficult for law enforcement authorities to recover the crime proceeds from them.

Advisory:

* Do not respond to any message relating to part time job or online trading.
* Do not respond to messages or calls relating to crypto trading
* Do not do crypto P2P trading.
*Avoid trading with anonymous persons or new acquaintances online.
*Call 1930 to report cybercrime.