TL;DR Breakdown
- An Indian lecturer has been scammed by someone who offered to manage his account.
- Almost $14,000 is feared to be lost forever.
The global cryptocurrency market has unarguably seen massive interest and a huge number of new investors since the past year. However, the growing adoption of cryptocurrency continues to attract scammers looking to defraud unsuspecting investors, especially new investors. This is the case of one Ramesh J, a lecturer in India, who recently got into cryptocurrencies.
According to a report on Tuesday by the Times of India, the Indian lecturer, precisely in Bengaluru, was scammed of almost $14,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) by a fake cryptocurrency expert on Telegram.
Indian lecturer falls for Telegram crypto scammers
As a newbie in the cryptocurrency space, Ramesh joined some crypto-related Telegram groups to understand certain terms and processes involved in digital currency trading. In one of the Telegram groups, the Indian lecturer sought help after he unsuccessfully tried to transfer about $1,200 (RS 90,000) worth of Bitcoin to his CoinSwitch Kuber wallet.
One of the group members, who previously reached out to Ramesh to help him manage his Bitcoin for more profits, offered to help resolve the issue. The Indian lecturer carefreely shares his credentials to the Telegram scammer, who transferred nearly $14,000 (Rs 10 Lakh) to his crypto wallet some minutes later.
Almost $14k in Bitcoin lost
After failing to retrieve the cryptocurrency, Ramesh logged a complaint with the Central CEN police. The case has also been registered under sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police are looking to contact CoinSwitch Kuber on the way forward.
“If it was about banks, there would be a regulator, and banks could be approached. But when it comes to cryptocurrency, there are no regulators as such. We are planning to approach CoinSwitch Kuber to find a solution,” the police said.
