KOCHI: City-based businessman Saby Jose is one of the lucky ones. A little bit of online research helped him successfully avoid getting scammed by online fraudsters. It started with a WhatsApp message forwarded by one of his friends. It was a “brochure” and prospectus of the Crypto Global Bank (CGB), world’s first cryptocurrency online bank. The bank was offering 1 per cent interest daily on whatever money he would deposit.
Like everyone else, Saby was tempted. A deposit of Rs 5 lakh would earn him a total monthly interest of Rs 1.5 lakh (Rs 5,000/day). However, he decided to check out the bank’s website. He found that CGB neither had a proper website nor a contact address. He dropped his plan.
Unlike Saby, hundreds of unlucky ones have already lost their money to the latest scam being carried out in the name of cryptocurrency, just weeks after the “Morris Coin” cryptocurrency fraud came to light. “I was lucky I did not invest any money despite the highly lucrative offer. Many have lost money but are silent,” he said.
Police have already launched a probe into the activities of the racket that push the brochure and prospectus of the bank through WhatsApp groups to lure more people. The brochure reads: “CGB is the world’s first decentralised cryptocurrency online bank.
When you deposit on our platform in dollar, pound or INR or in any other cryptocurrency, we convert the money into Bitcoin (a cryptocurrency) and invest it on your behalf. Thereafter we invest in global market and give your return of 1% as interest on your deposit from our profit that we make from trading. We also convert your cryptocurrency into investment which gives you high returns on regular basis with no dependency on fluctuating market rates.” (sic)
An officer with the Cyber police wing said an analysis of the web address itself revealed that the site wasn’t functioning. “Though there is an app called Crypto Global Bank in the Playstore, it’s not verified,” said the officer. Cryptocurrency consultant Sinjith K Nanminda said, “It’s a complete scam. Fraudsters are coming up with a lot of lucrative offers in the name of cryptocurrencies. There is no bank like the cryptocurrency online bank. Fraudsters are making use of people’s limited knowledge about cryptocurrencies to dupe them.”