One of the tactics used involved impersonating Coinbase customer service representatives and convincing victims to hand over two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.
Tomar then used the ill-gotten credentials to access multiple victim accounts and transfer funds to wallets under his control. He converted the cryptocurrency into other digital assets, moving them between several wallets to hide the transactions. Eventually, the funds were converted into cash and distributed amongst the criminal group.
The 31-year-old used the stolen money to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury watches like Audemars Piguet, high-end vehicles like Lamborghinis and Porsches, and traveling to destinations such as Dubai and Thailand.
A 31-year-old Indian citizen, Chirag Tomar, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a $20 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims. Tomar and his co-conspirators executed the fraud by “spoofing” a website designed to imitate the legitimate cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
The group set up a fraudulent version of the exchange’s professional trading site, Pro.Coinbase.com, using a fake URL, CoinbasePro.com, tricking victims into providing their login credentials.
