A US judge sentenced a crypto fraudster to five years in prison over charges stemming from a $20 million scheme involving a fake Coinbase website.
Chirag Tomar, an Indian national, facilitated a “spoofing” con that involved setting up a deceptive URL, CoinbasePro.Com, and creating a fraudulent webpage designed to mimic the popular crypto exchange’s site, per a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Tomar’s website tricked hundreds of victims into providing their actual Coinbase login and authentication information. The fraudster and his co-conspirators also schemed people into allowing fake Coinbase representatives to execute remote desktop software that granted the fraudsters access to their legitimate Coinbase accounts, even impersonating the exchange’s customer service representatives over the phone to secure two-factor authentication codes.
Tomar eventually moved victims’ crypto into his personal wallets and then transferred the digital assets into cash, which he distributed to his partners and used to purchase luxury cars, watches, and trips to Dubai and Thailand, among other locations.
US authorities arrested the fraudster last December, and he pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in May. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Tomar to 60 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.
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