Wowcoin? Woman loses Rs 18 lakh in cryptocurrency con

CHENNA: The police are probing what could be a major digital currency fraud, with a conman duping a Chennai woman into investing Rs 18 lakh in Wowcoin, an abandoned hybrid cryptocurrency, after meeting her on Facebook and promising her big earnings on her cash.
The investigation took off after the Anna Nagar police, acting on a Madras high court directive, registered a case against the directors of a Chennai firm on a complaint by Indrani Maruthamuthu, a pharmacist from West Mambalam.



Investigators said they registered a case under IPC Section 420 (cheating) against Padmaj Bommi Shetty Srinivasalu, Aarthi Anavaram Bommishetty, Clint Joseph Rodriques, directors of Wow Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd, Second Avenue, Anna Nagar.

“We have received only one complainant so far but we expect more,” an investigating officer said.

“Indrani said in her complaint that she learned about Wowcoin through D Madhesh, whom she befriended on Facebook.”

Madhesh introduced Indrani to a WhatsApp group called Wow Trade Coin, a group of allegedly “likeminded cryptocurrency investors”, and the deception fooled the pharmacist.

“The directors of the firm stated that they managed the company’s operations in India,” the officer quoted Indrani’s complaint as saying. “They brainwashed me into believing that Wowcoin would grow manifold in a few years and got me to invest money.”

“The directors of Wow Digital Solutions told her that Wowcoin was set to surpass Bitcoin in popularity and would be the online currency of the future,” the officer said. “They opened a trading account in her name on a website (wowtrade.com) and claimed to show her how her investment was growing with every passing day.”

Indrani said she realised that she was the victim of a swindle when she failed to receive any of the profits her investments were allegedly earning. She decided to go to the police.

“We are not sure if the complainant was aware that the government is taking every measure to eliminate the use of cryptocurrency,” the officer said.

CryptoSlate, a popular online destination for cryptocurrency investors and researchers, cautions against trading in Wowcoin, stating: “Warning: Please proceed with caution when trading this coin.”

‘Poses threat to financial systems key to government’

It said it had listed the cryptocurrency as “abandoned” because the developer had not renewed the domain name and there had, as of this year, been “little to no trading activity” in Wowcoin.

The police are likely to transfer the case to the Central Crime Branch. “It is a specialised unit. Its officers will investigate the case and apprehend the suspects,” the officer said. “Cybercrimeexpertshavetobe partof the probeto prove a case of cheating.”

Ilam Bharathi, a Madras high court lawyer, noted that cryptocurrencies exist in a digital format outside the reach of law enforcement agencies, making them almost impossible for the authorities to regulate. “This poses a threat to centralised financial systems that are integral to every government’soperations.”