JAKARTA - Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reportedly issued an official notification to crypto exchange Binance in a bid to identify links surrounding the multimillion-crypto scam in the region.
The Pakistani government started a criminal investigation after receiving numerous complaints against an ongoing fraud involving misleading investors to send funds from a Binance wallet to an unknown third-party wallet.
According to local media, the FIA's Cyber Crime Wing has issued an attendance order to Binance Pakistan's general manager, Hamza Khan, to identify the exchange's link to a "fraudulent online investment mobile app."
"Relevant questionnaires have also been sent to Binance Headquarters Cayman Islands and Binance US to explain the same," the media wrote in its report as quoted by Cointelegraph.
Investment scams in Pakistan are carried out by asking users to register on Binance and transfer funds to third-party wallets under the pretext of unrealistic returns on investment.
“This scheme benefits old clients at the expense of new clients and eventually disappears when they have generated a substantial capital base worth billions of rupees,” said an FIA source, quoted by Cointelegraph.
Based on complaints filed by residents, Pakistani agencies identified at least 11 fake mobile apps that suddenly stopped working after successfully stealing user funds. The apps identified by the FIA are MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, UG, TASKTOK, and 91fp.
In addition to directing users to register on Binance to transfer funds, the scammers added victims to Telegram groups to provide “expert betting signals.” Each app hosts about 5.000 subscribers on average.
“At least 26 suspected blockchain wallet addresses (Binance wallet addresses) have been identified where fraudulent amounts may have been transferred. A letter has been written to Binance Holdings Limited to provide the account details of this blockchain wallet as well as to debit blocking it,” the FIA source said.
Binance has also been asked for details including official supporting documents and the API integration mechanism used by fraudsters to connect with Binance services. While the FIA proactively blocks bank accounts linked to suspicious apps, the notice warns:
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“In case of non-compliance, the FIA Cyber Crimes would be justified in recommending financial penalties on Binance through the State Bank of Pakistan.”
Binance has not responded to a request for comment from Cointelegraph on the statement from the FIA.
In December 2021, the president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Nasir Hayat Magoon, revealed that Pakistanis have a combined value of $20 billion in crypto assets.
As Cointelegraph reports, the FPCCI president confirmed the figures based on a research paper released by the chamber. Supporting the claim, the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 ranks Pakistan in the third-highest ranking in terms of index scores behind Vietnam and India.
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