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China's Crypto Con Artists Face Justice in $6.2 Million Scam Targeting India

Recent legal actions in China have resulted in the imprisonment of nine individuals involved in a large-scale telecommunication fraud that exploited over 66,800 victims in India.

The fraud scheme, which operated from June 2023 to January 2024, deceived victims out of approximately $6.2 million through fabricated investment platforms.

Central to this operation was a man known only as He, who orchestrated the scam from a rented office in Shandong Province, China.

He and his team used elaborate online personas to connect with Indian men on social media, promising high returns on investments through a bogus platform called SENEE.

Once the victims deposited their money, the fraudsters would shut down the platform or freeze access to the funds, making it nearly impossible for victims to recover their investments.

These transactions involved the manipulation of cryptocurrencies, particularly Tether's USDT, which was converted into Chinese yuan or U.S. dollars, facilitating the laundering of their illicit gains.

The Chinese court characterized the operation as a “professional criminal syndicate,” emphasizing the organized and advanced nature of the scam.

Sentences for the convicted range from five to nearly fifteen years, alongside substantial financial penalties.

This case reflects a disturbing trend of transnational scammers leveraging crypto and telecommunications to defraud innocent investors, with similar operations observed in Southeast Asia.

As authorities increase their efforts to combat such fraud, experts warn that the complexity of these networks hints at a far larger criminal web still operating across Asia.