A man has been sentenced for his role in a $20 million crypto scam using fake Coinbase sites. Crypto platform and employee impersonation frauds are on the rise in 2024.
Chirag Tomar was sentenced Thursday in a North Carolina court to five years in prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded victims of more than $20 million.
Tomar and his co-conspirators created spoofed websites that resembled the Coinbase exchange platform, luring victims into providing login credentials and two-factor authentication codes.
Using this information, fraudsters access victims' accounts and transfer crypto to wallets under their control.
One victim alone reportedly lost over $240,000 Tomar Scan.
Tomar used the stolen funds to finance a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars and watches.
He was arrested upon entering the US in December 2023 and pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in May 2024.
Crypto scams are becoming more sophisticated in 2024, with billions of dollars funneled into illegal activities.
According to Chinalysis43% of scam inflows this year went to wallets that only became active in 2024.
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Scammers are also shortening the duration of their operations.
They now have access to on-chain and off-chain tools, fake domains and social media accounts to trick victims.
Using these, they can quickly drain funds, disperse them across multiple wallets and easily set up new schemes under different names, making it difficult for authorities to track and shut them down.
Kyle Baird is News Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at [email protected].
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