An individual named Ramavat Shaishav, hailing from India, stands accused of defrauding a US citizen of cryptocurrency valued at more than $930,000 (roughly Rs 7.7 crore). The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken custody of cryptocurrency assets exceeding $930,000 from the alleged offender, who resides in Ahmedabad.
The accused is suspected of assuming the identity of “James Carlson,” purportedly from Amazon’s fraud department, to initiate contact with the US citizen through email. Posing as an Amazon representative, he falsely informed the US citizen that their Amazon account had been compromised and that, for security reasons, they needed to transfer their cryptocurrency holdings to a secure wallet. Subsequently, the US citizen transferred 28 Bitcoin, 55 Ethereum, 25,572 Ripple, and 77 USDT to Shaishav’s electronic wallet, only to find the assets disappeared later, according to the CBI.
Following these events, the CBI filed a case against the accused and initiated an investigation. They successfully tracked down the accused’s IP address, leading to his identification. Subsequently, a raid was conducted at his residence in Ahmedabad, during which cryptocurrency assets valued at over $930,000 were seized.
The CBI’s spokesperson was quoted by PTI as saying, “It was also alleged that the accused induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit the same in Bitcoin in the RockitCoin ATM Wallet, and also shared a QR code falsely informing him (the victim) that the same was opened by the US Treasury for him.”
To gain the trust of the victim, Shaishav reportedly sent a fictitious letter dated September 20, 2022, purporting to be issued by the US Federal Trade Commission. In response to this deception, the victim allegedly withdrew $130,000 from their bank accounts on various dates from August 30, 2022, to September 9, 2022, and deposited the funds into the Bitcoin address provided by the accused. These funds were purportedly misappropriated by Shaishav.
The spokesperson mentioned, “Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused in Ahmedabad, resulting in the discovery and confiscation of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc., valued at approximately $939,000, from the accused’s crypto wallets, along with incriminating evidence.”
Furthermore, the CBI has identified two accomplices of Shaishav, both residing in Ahmedabad, and examined their facilities. This inspection yielded the confiscation of mobile phones, laptop computers containing evidence of wrongdoing, and other digital devices.