THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a shocker, a Kollam native lost Rs 1.20 crore to a cyber fraud and the amount siphoned off was transferred to Chinese bank accounts by the scammers, including Chinese nationals, as cryptocurrency.
Sujith (name changed), a 35-year-old entrepreneur, lost his hard-earned money after he invested it in a phoney cryptocurrency trading firm. Sujith was first added to a social media chat group created by the scammers in June this year. He was initially cynical about the motive of the group and did not join the business. However, the scammers tricked him by adding some more members to the group, who claimed to have benefitted from the business.
Sujith said he accessed the application after paying an initial amount to an Indian phone number via an online payment app. Later, from June to August, he paid the amount in several instalments as directed by the fraudsters. Sujith was first told that the firm was based out of Malaysia and was involved in gold trading. But later, the firm claimed to have shifted to cryptocurrency trading, citing that gold price was volatile. Sujith was promised hefty returns for his investment, which could only be drawn once in a week.
Sujith said he converted the US dollars into cryptocurrency and invested it in the firm. “I was told that the returns depended on the rate of the cryptocurrency, which keeps fluctuating. My profits were displayed in the app and that gave me a feeling that it was a genuine trading firm,” Sujith said. As per Sujith, when the profit began accruing, he was asked to pay the service charge and tax, which alone came to more than `30 lakh. Only then he came to know that he was being played.
The cyber investigation team that provided tech support to the district crime branch, which is probing the case, said several people seem to be part of the scam. Sources said several Chinese citizens and a few Indians were part of the racket and the embezzled money was transferred out of the country as cryptocurrency.
“Some of the Indian men involved in the fraud were found to be from Maharashtra,” the sources added. Meanwhile, Sujith said the crime branch probe was not satisfactory. “If this sluggish approach continues, then I may not get justice,” he added.