The hopes of those Pakistanis who had lost their hard-earned money to online cryptocurrency fraud (worth Rs 18 billion) rose as the international crypto exchange Binance assured the federal investigative agency ( FIA) of the full cooperation of its investigators in the scam.
In a statement, the FIA's additional director of cybercrime Imran Riaz on Tuesday confirmed that Binance made telephone contact with the FIA and officially sent an email, ensuring its cooperation in investigating the fraud.
The international cryptocurrency exchange has appointed two of its officials for cooperation in the investigation, he added. Without naming names, Imran Riaz said the two Binance officials were former employees of the U.S. Department of Finance and investigated financial crimes.
Billions of rupees were transferred from Pakistan to China through 11 mobile applications, Imran Riaz revealed.
Pakistanis lose billions to online cryptocurrency fraud
The FIA has detected a $ 100 million (Rs 17,7 billion) online fraud using a cryptocurrency. Additionally, it issued a notice to Binance's local representative to appear in person on January 10, local media reported on January 8.
Sharing the details of the fraud, FIA Additional Director Imran Riaz said the people involved in the online fraud transferred the money overseas via cryptocurrency.
"We launched an investigation after receiving complaints about a fraud involving billions of rupees, committed using nine online applications," he said and added that they sought answers in this regard from a cryptocurrency representative in Pakistan.
He shared that people have invested between $ 100 and $ 80.000 in fraudulent applications. "Those who developed these applications were related to cryptocurrency," the FIA official said.
He said they have searched the details of all people connected to the Binance cryptocurrency fraud and their cryptocurrency accounts will be suspended. The FIA official also shared that cryptocurrencies are used in money laundering and terrorist financing.
Apps connected to Binance… indeed no
According to the details, some mobile applications offered Pakistanis of invest in virtual currency. These applications were linked to Binance, the leading virtual platform for buying and selling Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies.
However, these applications suddenly disappeared and the investments of around 17,7 billion rupees made by Pakistanis were lost. Authorities said the one way was for fraudulent activity. The people who launched the applications had connections with the cryptocurrency exchange.
That's why we recommend that you always use safe and reliable mobile apps to trade your cryptocurrencies. It doesn't matter if it is connected to known brokers or not. And what do you think of this increase in scams in the cryptocurrency sector? Have you ever fallen victim to these online scams? Let us know in the comments section below.
