KARACHI – Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed a cryptocurrency scam in which billions of rupees were looted from Pakistanis, using online trading applications, it emerged on Friday.
A media report said that all the applications were linked to world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange company, Binance. It added that Pakistanis were defrauded of Rs18 billion by scammers.
FIA Cybercrime Wing has issued notices to Binance general manager in Pakistan and its headquarters in the US.
The investigators have a suspicion that terror financing and money laundering were being made in guise of cryptocurrency.
The report revealed that 11 mobile applications were involved in online fraud with Pakistanis.
FIA Cybercrime Wing head Imran Riaz said that the 11 applications were suddenly shut down, depriving people of their billions of rupees invested through these platforms. He revealed that the applications used to lure people with high-profit rates.
Riaz said that FIA had detected Binance’s 26 suspicious blockchain vaults, which were used for money transactions. He said that the exchange company has been asked to provide the record of the vaults.
“We launched a probe after receiving complaints regarding a fraud involving billions of rupees being committed using nine online applications,” he said.
He shared that people invested between $100 to $80,000 through fraud applications.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/bitcoin-slips-to-47232-as-cryptos-trade-mixed/
