Pakistanis lose millions to massive fraud

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In Pakistan, a cryptocurrency exchange company Binance Pakistan tricked residents into investing in the cryptocurrency, scamming them for massive fraud worth $ 100 million. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) took note of the case and sent Binance a notice regarding the scam, which resulted in the country’s largest scam via the crypto currency exchange.

“The organizers used the cryptocurrency. We launched an investigation after receiving complaints about fraud involving billions of rupees committed using nine online applications,” said Imran Riaz, director of the FIA.

According to the details, Binance, known as the fraudster, used mobile apps that provided locals with investment opportunities in the crypto exchange through lucrative offers of profits on their investments.

It is estimated that people sent between $ 100 and $ 80,000, or on average up to $ 2,400 per person. The money was sent to the Binance wallet after investors registered and transferred money to accounts linked to the app.

The fraud came to light after many investors contacted authorities to complain about more than a dozen apps, which suddenly stopped working.

“During the investigation, it was discovered that the fraudulent account of different apps, namely MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, 91fp, TASKTOK, is linked to Binance wallets,” officials said.

“Each of the apps had at least 5,000 clients each,” the officials added.

The FIA ​​sent a notice to a person named Hamza Khan, identified as Binance’s representative in Pakistan, inviting him to appear in person on January 10, 2022.

“FIA Cyber ​​Crime Sindh issued an attendance order to Hamza Khan, Managing Director / Growth Analyst at Binance Pakistan to explain his position on the link between fraudulent online investment mobile apps and Binance. A Relevant Questionnaire was also sent to Binance headquarters in Cayman Islands and Binance US to explain the same, “said an FIA official.

Separately, a letter was also sent to Binance Holdings Limited giving details of these blockchain wallet accounts, as well as an invitation to block them with immediate effect.

“We have also requested supporting documents and information on the integration of the applications with the coin trading platform,” said the FIA.

Binance is the latest unregulated virtual currency exchange, in which Pakistanis have invested millions. The FIA ​​has warned that non-compliance could lead to the recommendation to impose financial sanctions through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The FIA ​​is also sending notices to social media influencers, who have been promoting the apps.

Cryptocurrency trading remains banned in the country. However, even with the ban in place, reports suggest Pakistanis have invested around $ 20 billion in crypto assets.

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