Indian police are investigating a potential major cryptocurrency fraud that includes criminals duping a Chennai woman out of nearly $26 000 by convincing her to invest in abandoned cryptocurrency Wowcoin.
The victim is identified as pharmacist Indrani Maruthamuthu from West Mambalam. She met the suspects through Facebook and identified them as Padmaj Bommi Shetty Srinivasalu, Aarthi Anavaram Bommishetty, and Clint Joseph Rodriques. They are all directors of Wow Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd.
«We have received only one complainant so far, but we expect more. Indrani said in her complaint that she learned about Wowcoin through D Madhesh, whom she befriended on Facebook», – said one of the investigating officers.
The police said that Indrani was introduced by Madhesh to a WhatsApp group called Wow Trade Coin which claims to be comprised of «like-minded cryptocurrency investors». The suspects convinced Indrani to invest in Wowcoin with a promise of high returns in a few years.
The police further stated that the directors of Wow Digital Solutions opened a trading account in Indrani’s name on a website (wowtrade.com) and claimed to show her how her investment was growing with every passing day.
But Indrani decided to call the police after the group failed to provide any returns on her investments.
At the end of April, Indian police arrested two individuals suspected of running an elaborate Ponzi scheme that victimized at least 5 000 investors and made off with an estimated $2,6 million.
Hideto Fujino, president of Rheos Capital Works warns investors:
«There is no such thing as a perfectly safe investment. Only fraudsters make such a promise».
