Recently the ED raided a place in Bengaluru, raising serious concerns about the city’s growing role in crypto related fraud.
According to the ED as stated by them, an OTC crypto scam worth around
$35 million USDT has taken place in Bengaluru.
For those who don’t know what OTC means, it refers to over the counter trading, where assets are traded directly between two parties without going through a main exchange.
In this case investors were lured through Telegram channels and Instagram to invest in and buy coins/tokens at cheap rates. However after receiving the money, the scammers failed to deliver the promised tokens and instead transferred the funds to different wallets. This has also raised suspicions of money laundering.
During the ED raid authorities were able to confiscate around
8,700 USDT from the accused scammers.
With this we can say these are still allegations, and the investigation is ongoing.
But if the case turns out to be true, it certainly raises a serious question
Is Bengaluru becoming an high attractive base for crypto scammers because of its large tech/crypto ecosystem and relatively easy money laundering connections?
Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this guys.
The link to the news article can be found here:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/bengaluru-ed-uncovers-35-million-crypto-otc-scam-digital-assets-worth-8700-usdt-seized/article71248638.ece
