Cryptocurrency scam busted, two arrested in Puducherry

Puducherry police uncover cryptocurrency scam, arrest two men from Coimbatore; caution public against fraudulent investment schemes.

The Cyber wing of Puducherry police have unearthed a cryptocurrency scam and arrested two men from Coimbatore.

Police identified the accused as Hitesh Kumar and Aravinth Kumar, both graduates from colleges in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, the cyber police are tracking others who are involved in the financial fraud before arresting them, the police said.

Briefing reporters about the online financial fraud, Senior Superintendent of Police Narra Chaitanya said the accused opened a firm in Coimbatore around five years ago. They made the inaugural of the company a grand affair by roping in celebrity actors. 

The company offered huge returns for trading in cryptocurrency. Within three months of the inaugural, around 100 people made investments and in order to gain customers’ trust, the company gifted cars to top investors. After sometime, neither were there any returns nor a trace of the invested amount, he said.

“The scam is a combination of Ponzi and multi-level marketing (MLM). Around nine people from Puducherry lost around ₹2.5 crore. Many people from other States have lost their investment with the company. We are on the lookout for the main accused,” the SSP said. 

Mr. Chaitanya cautioned the public against investing their hard earned money in firms, merely based on advertisements offering huge returns.

“People should be very cautious while investing their money in schemes related to cryptocurrency, MLM and generally the ones that offer huge returns. People have lost around ₹25 crore, last year alone, by making online investments. Suspected online frauds can be reported over the toll free number 1930,” he said.