The multi-level marketing firms and online Ponzi schemes using the morphed photographs of celebrities are being operated from China to con the Indian Crypto traders to sell the crypto currency worth hundreds of crores of rupees, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police said on Wednesday.

The EOW had earlier frozen Rs 75 lakh in 14 bank accounts operated by the fraudsters across India. The scammers had used the morphed photographs of celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar and Technical Guruji [famous YouTuber] as a ploy to deceive people.

The total transaction in bank accounts of these online Ponzi operators could run into more than Rs 1,000 crore, the EOW said.

It has been found during investigation that some “Indian Whatsapp number” operated from China are being used to lure the Indian Crypto traders to sell the crypto currency worth hundreds of crores rupees to the scammers sitting outside India. These China-based scammers usually offer higher and lucrative rates (compared to market rates) to lure Indian crypto traders.

The scammers generally meet the unsuspecting investors on various crypto exchange platforms and establish one to one link to make the deal. However, they prefer P2P deal (peer-to-peer deal) instead of exchange-based deal. Most crypto traders (who are interested in better deals) are not aware of the criminal antecedents of the other party.

Once the deal is struck, the scammers transfer the money from their India-based shell companies/enterprises’ bank account to crypto traders and in turn the crypto-traders transfer the crypto currencies to the scammer’s account. Thus money is siphoned out of India, EOW said in a statement.

The EOW, in an advisory, said crypto-traders must verify the antecedent of crypto buyers especially when the amount is huge. The traders must check the details of the company to check whether it’s a genuine or shell company.

If the investors are offered a higher or better rate than prevailing market rate, it should be seen suspiciously. They should avoid P2P trade with suspicious buyers, the EOW concluded while issuing an alert.