The bitcoin scammers were found guilty of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering using the leading cryptocurrency bitcoin. Karanjit Singh Khatkar and Jagroop Singh Khatkar were sentenced to 24 months in federal prison with three years of supervised release for the bitcoin scam. Follow all the latest startup news to keep up to date with the crypto and blockchain industry.
Scammers impersonated as customer service of crypto exchange HitBTC.
The bitcoin scammer duo falsely impersonated as the customer service of the crypto exchange HitBTC on the microblogging platform Twitter as “HitBTCAssist.” Scammers managed to steal 23.2 BTC from victims who fell for the scam, according to the US Department of Justice. At the time of writing, 23.2 BTC is worth $1,29,920. Shortly after the 23.2 bitcoins were sent over by the victim, the duo split the funds and sold the cryptocurrency.
Both scammers pleaded guilty.
In February, both scammers from Canada pleaded guilty to the charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The court also ordered the duo to pay a total of $184,500 in restitution. Earlier, a US citizen was sentenced to 13 years in prison for funding the terrorist organization ISIS using bitcoins. Over the last few years scams related to bitcoins have surged quite substantially.
