First time in india Mumbai police cyber cell recovers Bitcoin scam money

Mumbai - The Central Home Office took note of this as it is believed to be the first case in the country of recovery of fraudulent amounts in cryptocurrencies through fake links from foreign wallets.

Yogesh Jain, a resident of JP North, Mira Road, was lured by two mobile phone holders from Hong Kong in February 2022 to earn high profits by giving them tips on Bitcoin trading through the BTC India WhatsApp group. Jain purchased 39 thousand 596 USDT by spending 33 lakh 65 thousand from Binance app and according to him paid in BTC coin trading app through unknown link. Later that app and Amy's number were closed.

With the help of Crypto Helpline, an American New York based company, Jain prepared a detailed report on the transfer of money to some apps and wallets. In May 2022, when Jain complained to the cyber branch, police inspector Sujit Kumar Gunjkar, assistant inspector Swapnil Vaval, sub-inspector Prasad Shenolkar, enforcer Praveen Awad started an investigation based on that report. Crypto platforms like Binance and GetIO did not support it. But as per the report of that American company, Jain's money went to OKX, so the cyber branch also contacted him in May 2022. At first they did not respond but the second time the company responded and gave the information about the Chinese person in whose account the money had gone. They have frozen the money as well as prepared to return the money if the court order is submitted within a certain day. Interestingly, OKX accepted the trace report of that American company. The cyber branch requested OKX to extend the deadline for the court order.

In March 2023, when a case was registered with Kashmiri police, Jain filed a petition against Kashmiri police, cyber cell and OKX in the Thane court to get back the money. After the court order, Cyber Cell approached OKX. After that, in June, Jain's account received a refund of Rs 36 lakh that had been defrauded.

The investigation was taken up by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. According to his instructions, on Friday 7th July in the evening, an hour-long guided online workshop was conducted for the officers of the country's cyber cell and police and investigation agencies. Police Commissioner Madhukar Pandey Inspector Gunjkar guided the workshop.

The Cyber Cell gave information to the involved officials about how the crime was investigated from the incident, how the correspondence was conducted, how the prosecutor was guided to get the court order etc. The problems encountered in the investigation, the non-existent addresses of the crypto wallet holders, the fraud gangs in foreign countries and the difficulties in enforcing the laws and court orders in our country were also discussed.

Citizens should avoid investing or trending through such untrustworthy means which are basically outside the jurisdiction of the laws and regulations and authorities of the country, the opinion is being expressed that more caution is needed. Because like Yogesh Jain, there is no guarantee that everyone who has been cheated will get their money back.