While Bitcoin mania surges, people lose crores of rupees in this fake cryptocurrency
A case was reported from the national capital where Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested a 32-year old man and his gang that allegedly lured people in a ‘newly launched’ cryptocurrency named “Kashh Coin."
Cryptocurrency mania has taken the entire world including India by storm in the last two weeks or such. The investors worldwide are increasing their position in various virtual currencies to make the most of the recent gains made by them recently. However, it has even resulted in various frauds happening where people have been tricked by crooks into investing in fake digital assets. In the latest, a case was reported from the national capital where Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested a 32-year old man and his gang that allegedly lured people in a ‘newly launched’ cryptocurrency named “Kashh Coin,” reported The Indian Express. The gang allegedly promised people huge returns once the price of this virtual currency soared. The police claim that the gang ran its network pan-India and cheated people of money amounting to crores. “The accused would tell people that the cost of Kashh Coin would go up. People from across the country invested in lakhs and crores, ” told DCP (Crime) Bhisham Singh to The Indian Express. They used to invite eminent personalities to those seminars to attract more and more people, police told. The report quotes police saying that their investigation revealed Kashh Coin can be bought at a rate of Rs 3.50 per coin. A customer can create an account on the website after buying a coin or more. The police first came to know about the crime when one Arun Kumar from Delhi approached the police a few months back claiming he has been cheated Rs 25 lakh in connection with the Kashh Coin. They used to invite eminent personalities to those seminars to attract more and more people, the report added. Unlike South Korea, Japan, and the US, India doesn’t have a regulated cryptocurrency market.
The price of most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin is touching new highs each day. The I-T sleuths on Wednesday conducted survey operations at the nine major Bitcoin exchanges of India. Bitcoin is not regulated in the country and its circulation has been a cause of concern among central bankers the world over for quite a while now. The various teams of the sleuths of the department, under the command of the Bengaluru investigation wing, visited the premises of nine such exchanges in the country including in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Gurugram, since early morning. The survey, under section 133A of the Income Tax Act, is being conducted for “gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, transaction undertaken by them, identity of counterparties, related bank accounts used, among others,” they said.
Even the Reserve Bank of India is not much enthused by the idea of the virtual currencies. Cautioning users, holders and traders of VCs on Tuesday last week, the third time since February 2013, India’s central banking institution came out with another warning letter making them aware about the potential economic, financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks associated in dealing with such VCs. “In the wake of a significant spurt in the valuation of many VCs and rapid growth in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), RBI reiterates the concerns conveyed in the earlier releases,” said the central bank. RBI clarified that it has not given any licence or authorisation to any entity or company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any VC. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, reached an all-new high on Wednesday and topped the $12,000 mark for the first time ever. The Reserve Bank of India first cautioned the investors about the risks associated with trading in VCs way back on 24 December, 2013. Thereafter, it was on 1 February, 2017 another press release was issued by the central bank in this regard. Bitcoin was trading at levels of $644.64 and $985.2 on 24 December and 2 February respectively on digital asset exchange Coinbase. The first day of February was a holiday.