Become A Victim Of Crypto Fraud On Telegram, This Engineer Must Lose IDR 237 Million

JAKARTA - An engineer from Delhi has become a victim of crypto fraud on the Telegram messaging platform, which is rife in India. According to local media reports, the victim lost around USD 15,000 (IDR 234 million) in a fake investment scheme related to cryptocurrencies.

The victim received a message from an unknown person on Telegram, who promised a huge profit from investing in cryptocurrencies. Unexpectedly, the victim was interested in the offer and joined the Telegram group mentioned by the sender of the message.

In the group, the victim was given instructions to invest 120.43 US dollars (IDR 1.9 million) and was promised a yield of 180.65 US dollars (IDR 2.8 million). Surprisingly, the victim believed in these promises. In fact, planning to increase the amount of investment.

Finally, the victim deposited an additional 15,000 US dollars (IDR 234 million) into the account given by the fraudster. Not long after that, the fraudster cut off communication and closed the Telegram group's access. The money that has been deposited cannot be returned.

According to a survey conducted by the local media organization Times of India, many crypto investors in India are vulnerable to this kind of fraud, especially on the Telegram platform. This is due to a lack of knowledge and experience about crypto, as well as a lack of clear regulation about the industry. Many people are easily tempted by lucrative offers on the internet, without doing verification or research first.

Indian Government Tightens Crypto Rules

The Indian government has taken steps to deal with the increase in the number of crypto scams in the country. By the end of December 2023, India's Ministry of Finance's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) sent notifications to nine foreign crypto exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, Kraken, and Bitfinex.

The notice alleges that the crypto exchanges operate illegally in India without a permit in accordance with anti-money laundering laws and the prevention of terrorism financing.

The FIU also asked India's Ministry of Electronics and Information to block websites from these crypto exchanges if they do not comply with the requirements to register as reporting entities, report suspicious transactions, pay taxes, and share information with Indian authorities.

The Indian government has also included digital assets in the list of assets that must be reported by taxpayers, so that the money laundering rules also apply to the Indian crypto market. This step was taken as an effort to protect investors and prevent crypto fraud in the country.