The scammers used fake apps to catch the affected investments sent to wallets linked to Binance to take advantage of the supposed benefits offered. Those responsible stole almost $ 100 million in cryptocurrencies.
The Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan (FIA) asked Binance to bring its contribution to help dismantle an ongoing criminal investigation associated with a large-scale scam involving wallets and applications related to the international exchange.
FIA requests Collaboration from Binance
Various reports revealed that the FIA authorities contacted Binance headquarters in the Cayman Islands and the first director of the exchange for Pakistan, Humza Khan, to request support. The FIA asked the company to solve the events that took place, which resulted in the theft of some USD 100 million from residents of the Arab country.
As revealed by the authorities, the investigation would be tracking the events raised by the apps MCX, HFC, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, 91FP, UG, TASKTOK, linked to some 26 addresses associated with Binance.
The Modus Operandi of These Alleged Attacks
To perpetuate the scam, the scammers asked the interested parties through the apps to open a new account with Binance and transfer the funds to the corresponding address. Later, through Telegram groups, they indicated commercial advice and recommendations to the victims.
The attackers started offering specialized information in exchange for a considerable amount of funds, offering unrealistic returns without any type of support for the victims.
As often happens in these cases, after raising a large amount of capital, those responsible took the funds and closed the respective applications, thus consummating the scam and leaving those affected without their money.
The report highlights that at least 5,000 victims got scammed by the attackers, and each one lost around USD 2,000, leaving a global balance of some USD 100 million stolen.
Ongoing Investigation
The FIA digital crime investigation department asked Binance for its support in tracking down the 26 addresses linked to its exchange. In addition, they also requested information on the mechanisms used by scammers to connect to the platform, so they expect full cooperation from the company.
On the other hand, the Pakistan leadership of Binance indicated that it would offer its full support to local authorities, although it would refrain from issuing opinions on regulatory matters.
Binance highlighted that they would not comment on specific matters with the regulatory and law enforcement authorities. However, as a matter of policies, their general goal is to cooperate with investigations whenever possible. Specifically, Binance tries to operate closely and in parallel with law enforcement and regulators.
By: Jenson Nuñez
