Indians invest Rs. 400 crores, lose money | News India

Ahmedabad: Cryptocurrencies launched in the market in the race to replace global currencies are not controlled by any financial market regulator. Instead of establishing a currency, cryptocurrencies are now being misused day by day and are becoming a major means of fraud. In 2023, global crypto fraud losses increased by 45%. Out of which Indians have invested Rs. 400 crores.

According to a recent FBI report, there has been a significant increase in cryptocurrency-related fraud around the world, including the United States. The total loss from these scams in 2023 has increased by 45 percent and the fraud figure has crossed $5.6 billion. The highest number of complaints came from the US, followed by Canada and the UK.

According to an FBI report, India ranks fifth globally in terms of the number of complaints related to cryptocurrency. A total of 840 cases of crypto fraud have been reported in India in 2023. India has suffered a total loss of $4,40,54,244 million i.e. about Rs 400 crore in these scams. With this figure, India is among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of total financial loss.

Only 10 percent of financial fraud complaints are crypto-related. However, cryptocurrency-related losses account for about 50 percent of total losses. After the crypto market slowdown in 2022, the number of frauds in this token decreased. However, the interest of fraudsters has increased once again after the cryptocurrency price hike last year. The price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin has more than doubled in the past year and is set to increase by about 35 percent in 2024.

Cryptocurrency fraud schemes include technology support, confidence and romance, investment and government scams, and investment fraud is the highest in 2023. According to the report, the loss due to crypto fraud in the name of investment was the highest at 71 percent of the total fraud, or about $3.96 billion. In 2022, this figure was 53 percent, or $2.57 billion.

By age group, individuals in the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups filed the most cryptocurrency-investment fraud complaints (approximately 5,200 complaints in each age group) and complainants over the age of 60 reported the highest losses of over $1.24 billion.

Top countries affected by crypto fraud

(Figures in millions of dollars)

Crypto fraud complaints