Crypto Scam Websites Have Almost 10 million Visits From India

By Kevin • January 18, 2022 8:16 pm • Comments

In recent years, the expansion of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry around the world has increased awareness and curiosity in crypto related services.

In India alone, there are reportedly almost 100 million people who are involved in the crypto space despite the government’s negative stance on the industry.

With the expansion of the crypto space also follows the increase of scam activity such as the creation of fake crypto websites.

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As of right now, it is reported that there are around 9.6 million visits from India on these fake crypto websites.

Typically, the purpose of these sites is to collect personal and confidential information about the website’s visitors and to potentially lure them into investing into scam coins.

The scammers typically use multiple channels to target the victims and the websites are just one channel that is utilized.

Other channels that the scammers typically use include mainstream apps like Telegram and Whatsapp.

NDTV reports:

Earlier this month, for instance, at least 900 people were identified to have been defrauded out of over $161 million (roughly Rs. 1,200 crore) in Kerala owing to a crypto scam.

The victims were reportedly lured into investing in an “initial coin offering” issued by a Kerala man for a non-existent cryptocurrency called the Morris Coin.

The Chainalysis report has however noted that the number of Indian visiting fake crypto websites has dropped substantially from 2020.

Two years ago, Indians visited crypto scam websites more than 17.8 million times.

In a bid to spread awareness around the crypto sector in India, several industry bodies are taking measures in their respective capacities.

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), for example, formed the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) in 2021 to spread information around cryptocurrencies.

Telangana state authorities have also inked deals with exchange CoinSwitch Kuber and innovation management firm Lomos Labs to mark the blockchain education-focussed initiative in India.

Indian crypto exchange platforms such as CoinSwitch Kuber have also added warning features on their platforms to alert investors when they are considering the purchase of any volatile or relatively unfamiliar cryptocurrency.

In total, crypto scams amounted to around $7.7 billion in just last year alone indicating that industry is a very attractive area that scammers use to take advantage of people’s lack of understanding as well as the unregulated nature of the industry as it is still very new in some parts of the world.

Livemint.com shares:

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky had predicted a rise in thefts of Bitcoin back in December 2020, and Chainalysis’ report on global crypto crimes from December 2021 showed that the value of cryptocurrencies held in illicit wallet addresses worldwide soared 79% last year to $14 billion from $7.8 billion in 2020.

The increase in scams and fraud is reported as a key reason for why the reserve bank of India is now looking to launch its own central bank digital currency.

In addition, as a response to recent fraud and high volume of scams in the country, the industry within India is starting to educate users about crypto so that they can make better informed decisions.

Unicorn startups are focused on putting their resources to promoting this cause.

For example, startup Coinswitch Kuber recently announced that it was launching a “Riskometer” on its platform with the intended use to warn users of the platforms of potential risks.

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