Indian Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Stealing $20M Using Fake Coinbase Website

U.S. District Judge, Kenneth D. Bell, has sentenced 31-year-old Chirag Tomar, an Indian National, to prison for stealing over $20 million from hundreds of victims using a fake version of Coinbase’s website.

In a Thursday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Dena J. King, announced that Tomar will serve 60 months (five years) in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

The Spoofing Scheme

According to court documents and Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Tomar and his co-conspirators began a spoofing scheme designed to steal funds from unsuspecting victims worldwide.

In June 2021, the group created a fake website to mimic the Coinbase Pro website, with a similar URL. The fraudulent website was designed to fool victims into entering their login credentials and authentication information.

Tomar and his co-conspirators also impersonated Coinbase’s customer service representatives and tricked users into providing their two-factor authentication codes over the phone. Most victims were convinced to allow the fake Coinbase representatives access to their computers remotely, which enabled the fraudsters to gain control of their crypto wallets.

Once the fraudsters gained access to the victims’ Coinbase accounts, they quickly transferred the available funds to crypto wallets under their control. The funds were subsequently moved to multiple wallets, converted to different cryptocurrencies, and eventually cashed out.

The fraudulent scheme scammed over 540 victims out of their crypto. One victim from North Carolina lost crypto worth more than $240,000 to the scheme.

Tomar used the proceeds of his fraud to fund his lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury watches and cars, including Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Lamborghini, and Porche, and traveling to London, Dubai, and Thailand.

Investigation and Subsequent Arrest

According to court documents, the U.S. Secret Service was able to link Tomar to the crime ring when he communicated with co-conspirators involved in the fraud using an email address in his real name.

Further investigations revealed that between June 2021 and October 2022, Tomar’s internet searches included “fake Coinbase page,” “Coinbase scam,” “scams in the USA,” and “how to take money from Coinbase without OTP.”

After Tomar applied for his travel visa to the U.S. in 2023 using the same email address, the authorities laid in wait. He was arrested at the Atlanta airport on Dec. 20, 2023, while visiting his family. On May 20, 2024, Tomar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

U.S. Attorney King applauded the U.S. Secret Service for investigating the case and thanked the FBI in Nashville for assisting in the case.

As cryptocurrencies become more popular, scammers are devising new ways to defraud investors of their crypto holdings. Earlier this month, the U.S. DOJ sentenced the founder of IcomTech to 10 years in prison for running a crypto Ponzi scheme.