Assam police crack down on Rs 20 crore crypto scam, three arrested

The Assam police, in a late-night operation on March 1, arrested three individuals in connection with a large-scale cyber fraud.

The operation, led by DySP (DSB), DySP (B), and SI (P) Ishan Jyoti Saikia, marked a crackdown on cybercrime with the operation held in the Fakirganj Police Station area under the supervision of ASP Headquarters with support from Kharuabandha out post personnel in South Salmara Mankachar district.

During the raid, three individuals, identified as Asadul Islam (25), Hashanur Zaman (28), and Kobad Ali Mollah (28) were held. The accused were reportedly running an illegal financial scheme under the name RSN Crypto Currency Token, deceiving over 2,000 victims in the district and the neighboring state of Meghalaya.

Investigations revealed that each victim was lured into investing a minimum of Rs 50,000, with the total misappropriated funds estimated to be between Rs 10-20 crore. The fraudsters operated by sharing a website link and promising huge profits through a so-called RSN game, which claimed to offer a 2 per cent return on investments.

However, it was a bogus crypto scheme designed to siphon funds from unsuspecting investors. The accused used online payment platforms like PhonePe and Paytm and Chinese crypto exchanges such as Binance to convert Indian Rupees into USDT (US Dollar Tokens) before transferring the funds to unknown international entities.

Additionally, they were found to be renting bank accounts to other cybercriminals nationwide for amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per account per month. During the operation, authorities seized eight mobile phones and two laptops along with eleven sim cards, which contained crucial evidence related to the scam.

The accused, upon interrogation, admitted to their role in orchestrating the fraudulent scheme, manipulating crypto values, and coercing victims into investing. Another key suspect, Hekmot Ali Sarkar, believed to be the upline of the arrested individuals, has absconded, and efforts are underway to apprehend him.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) was consulted during the investigation. Technical analysis traced the scam’s URL links to China, and it was found that the fraudulent website was hosted on Amazon servers.

An FIR has been registered, and the arrested individuals are currently in police custody as authorities continue to identify additional perpetrators and track the financial trails.

Authorities have urged the public to stay vigilant against such fraudulent investment schemes and report any suspicious activities to the cybercrime helpline.