An Indian man received a 5-year sentence for a multi-million fraud involving a fake Coinbase website. The two-year scheme took over $20 million in crypto from lots of of victims, which was used to fund the fraudster’s lavish lifestyle.
Indian National To Serve 5-Yr Sentence
On Thursday, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced that an Indian man was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing over $20 million using a spoofed website imitating crypto exchange Coinbase’s platform.
US District Judge Kenneth D. Bell ordered Chirag Tomar, a 31-year-old Indian National, to serve 60 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. The sentence follows the defendant’s guilty plea to the wire fraud charge in May.
Tomar was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The US Secret Service identified the Indian man due to an email account using his real name. In keeping with the court documents, Tomar communicated together with his co-conspirators and applied for a US travel visa using this account.
Moreover, he managed a spreadsheet with the small print of his victims, including how much had been stolen from them, and used fraudulently obtained identity documents to open Binance accounts.
Fake Coinbase Website Swipes $20 Million
Starting in June 2021, the Indian national, alongside his co-conspirators, spoofed the Coinbase Pro Website to trick the crypto exchange’s users. The fraudsters used the same URL and mimicked the authentic website, managing to scam over 500 victims in two years.
Once they entered the Coinbase fake website, the victims were tricked into providing their login credentials and authentication information. At times, Tomar and the opposite fraudsters posed as Coinbase’s customer support to acquire the victim’s two-factor authentication codes.
In other instances, users were deceived into allowing “Coinbase representatives” to execute distant desktop software to acquire access to their computers and accounts. After gaining full access, Tomar drained the victim’s holdings, transferring the ill-gotten crypto to wallets under his control.
Per the court documents, a victim from the Western District of North Carolina lost $240,000 in crypto to the fraudsters’ scheme. The documents also revealed that Tomar used the stolen funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle, traveling to Dubai, Thailand, and London.
Moreover, he purchased multiple luxury items, including expensive watches and high-end vehicles like Lamborghini and Porsches. On December 20, 2023, Tomar was arrested on the Atlanta airport when he traveled to the US to go to family.
Recently, Coinbase cautioned crypto investors a couple of concerning trend inside the sector. As reported by Bitcoinist, the crypto exchange revealed that scammers began targeting Gen Z users through social media apps like TikTok and Instagram.
The report noted that social media scams have increased, targeting users with and without knowledge about crypto. Users should remain alert about any suspicious activity or requests from online users and web sites, as phishing stays the largest scam type inside the industry.
Total crypto market capitalization is at $2.29 trillion within the weekly chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView
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