Hyderabad: Cybercrime police arrested three people for allegedly siphoning off cryptocurrency worth over Rs 19 crore from a city-based crypto trader, through a phishing website.Police said that two of the accused — Srikanth Bairoju from Shamshabad and Sushim Sripati Gaikwad from Pune — posed as crypto buyers and approached the victim, a 44-year-old from Kalyan Nagar in Madhura Nagar, in the last week of Jan. They convinced him to log on to a website, Trontag.org, under the pretext of completing KYC verification for his crypto wallet.“Once the victim complied with the process, a malicious smart contract got triggered allowing cryptocurrency transfer from his wallet to that of the fraudsters. Subsequently, the victim transferred 2,104,089 USDT (worth over Rs 19 crore approx.) from his wallet to that of the accused,” said S Naresh, cybercrime inspector.The victim realised that he was cheated when the fraudsters went incommunicado after the transfer was complete. Following a complaint, police registered a case on Feb 3 under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act, and launched a probe.They traced the digital footprints of the gang that led them to the main accused. Police arrested Bairoju and Gaikwad from Hyderabad and Pune respectively, on Feb 15. A third accused, Lucky Choudhary, who was the duo’s associate and allegedly created the fraudulent website, was arrested from Jaipur. Police seized four mobile phones and two laptops, used in the fraud, from the accused.“A few more accused involved in the crime are on the run. Our team has launched a manhunt to nab them. We are also contacting the cryptocurrency companies linked to the fraud to try and recover the defrauded amount,” said V Aravind Babu, DCP, cybercrime. Police, meanwhile, advised crypto traders to avoid unverified links, enable two-factor authentication and independently confirm KYC requirements with official platforms.
