NEW DELHI: Despite uncertainty over its legal status and extremely volatile nature, Indians continue to throng towards cryptocurrencies with many clicking on websites that are running crypto scams. India attracted crypto funding and blockchain investments worth $638 million in 2021, according to industry tracker Tracxn. But a more worrying trend is this: Data analysed by blockchain tracking firm Chainalysis shows that Indians visited crypto scam websites over 17.8 million times in 2020. While this figure fell to 9.6 million times in 2021, it has been a massive cause for concern for regulators as crypto fraud has been on the rise in India.
A website called coinpayu.com is a scamming website that has been visted by at least 1.58 million Indians in the last year. Other such scamming websites include adbtc.top, hackertyper.net, dualmine.com, coingain.app and the hyperfund.com. These sites alone received 5 million visits from India last year.
A website called coinpayu.com is a scamming website that has been visted by at least 1.58 million Indians in the last year. Other such scamming websites include adbtc.top, hackertyper.net, dualmine.com, coingain.app and the hyperfund.com. These sites alone received 5 million visits from India last year.
Globally, crypto scams rose by 81 percent in 2021 from 2020 led by rug pulls, which took in more than $2.8 billion (around Rs. 21,333 crore) worth of cryptocurrency from victims.
Crypto scams include phishing websites designed to steal sensitive information from users, ponzi schemes, fake investment plans and rug pulls. The last one is extremely popular as scamsters launch a fake initial coin offering, similar to a market IPO to lure investors. “Rug pulls are most commonly seen in decentralised finance (DeFi). The developers…
