Pakistan to investigate crypto exchange Binance in an alleged $100 million scam

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has reportedly issued a formal notice to Binance after receiving multiple reports concerning a crypto scam that misled the investors into sending funds from their Binance wallets to unknown third-party wallets. 

Pakistan to investigate crypto exchange Binance

As per a local media report, the Pakistani agency identified approximately 11 fraudulent mobile apps that were used to steal investors’ funds. The list of apps identified by the FIA is HFC, MCX, HTFOX, FXCOPY, OKIMINI, BB001, AVG86C, BX66, UG, TASKTOK, and 91fp. 

According to the FIA notice:

“A relevant questionnaire has also been sent to Binance headquarters at the Cayman Islands and Binance US to explain the same.”

According to Imran Riaz, the chief of FIA cybercrime Sindh, a letter has also been sent to GM Binance Pakistan.

The Federal Investigation Agency Cyber Crime Sindh’s action on 11 online investment apps integrated with @binance.The apps defrauded Pakistanis with about 100 million $. A letter has been sent to Binance as well as notice to GM Binance Pakistan. @cz_binance @Cointelegraph pic.twitter.com/8ayZJwjZrM

— Imran Riaz (@ImmiRizz) January 7, 2022

The scam involved misleading the investors into transferring funds to third-party wallets from Binance wallets. Later, the fraudsters also invited users on messaging app Telegram by offering them “expert betting signals.” Each application’s telegram channel was hosting approximately 5000 users. The reported scope of funds that were stolen from users ranges from $100 to $80,000.

The notice further stated that approximately 26 blockchain wallet addresses have been identified where the fraudulent amount may have been sent. As per the official notice, a letter has been sent to Binance to disclose the list of the wallet addresses that may contain the fraudulently transferred funds. Law enforcement administrators also reached out to the popular messaging app Telegram to seek further clarity and have blocked all accounts that were linked to the scam.

In response to the news, Binance Pakistan also tweeted back, stating that the exchange will cooperate with the agency to resolve the said issues. 

We do not comment on specific matters with regulatory and law enforcement authorities. However, as a matter of policy, our general approach is to cooperate with investigations wherever possible. Specifically, Binance tries to work closely with the law enforcement and regulatory

— Binance Pakistan 🇵🇰 (@BinancePk) January 7, 2022

community in an effort to develop best practices, mitigate and thwart new methods of criminality and prevent illicit proceeds from entering our exchange. We are working with the Federal Investigation Agency to resolve these issues.

— Binance Pakistan 🇵🇰 (@BinancePk) January 7, 2022