In what officials are calling a major breakthrough, the Enforcement Directorate has frozen bank accounts containing ₹2.18 crore after sweeping through Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur last week. The raids target an elaborate cryptocurrency fraud scheme believed to be worth a staggering ₹600 crore.
International Fraud Connection Uncovered
At the center of this mess is Chirag Tomar – an Indian national currently cooling his heels in a US prison. Tomar was nabbed by American authorities last November for duping hundreds of unsuspecting victims out of more than $20 million through fake websites that looked eerily similar to Coinbase, the popular crypto exchange.The cybercriminals manipulated search engine results in a way that their phony sites would pop up first when someone googled cryptocurrency exchanges.
Sophisticated Deception Tactics
The con was deceptively simple yet brutally effective. When victims tried logging in, they’d get error messages prompting them to call so-called “customer service” – actually just scammers waiting to pounce. Once they had victims on the line, the fraudsters would talk their way into gaining access credentials, then rapidly drain the accounts.
From there, the stolen crypto would be flogged on localbitcoins.com and converted to good old-fashioned rupees through various Indian exchanges. The money trail led investigators straight to Tomar’s family doorstep, with roughly ₹15 crore already traced to accounts connected to him and his relatives.
The raid turned up even more dirt – apparently this wasn’t just a one-off. ED officials discovered multiple instances of dodgy crypto being laundered through similar channels, suggesting a far wider network of digital pickpockets.
Regulatory Gaps Fuel Scam Wave
This case exposes how scammers exploit India’s crypto regulatory vacuum. Without clear laws governing digital assets, fraudsters operate in legal blind spots, blending legitimate transactions with scams. Enforcement agencies struggle to navigate these gray areas while determining what’s legal and what’s criminal.
As India dithers on clear crypto regulations, these cases keep multiplying, with ordinary investors often left holding an empty digital wallet. Meanwhile, ED officials promise this investigation is “just getting started,” with more assets likely to be frozen in coming weeks.
