A 38-year old rookie investor lost 10 lakh rupees worth of Bitcoins to a fraudster who had promised to handle his cryptocurrency account. The person is a resident of Bengaluru and a lecturer in private college.
The incident took place on 22nd February, when he tried to log into CoinSwitch Kuber, a trading platform to buy, sell and manage cryptocurrency. To understand the trading process, he also joined some Telegram group. The accused then texted the complainant personally and said that he could handle the bitcoins and ensure high returns.
After some time, when the complainant tried to transfer Rs. 90,000 to his CoinSwitch Kuber wallet, he was unable to do so. He raised a query on the Telegram group, after which the same person once again texted him stating that he was aware of the problem and he would resolve it for him quickly. Believing the person, the complainant shared his credentials, including a one time password (OTP).
And that’s how the accused managed to transfer Bitcoins worth Rs. 10 lakh to another wallet. The complainant has lodged a complaint with Central CEN police.
Moral of the story: Never share your credentials, or the OTP, to anyone.
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