Canadian Duo Charged with Massive Bitcoin Scam Through Fake Customer Service Account

The Sordid Saga of Bitcoin Fraud

In a plot that reads like a crypto thriller, two Canadians of Indian descent have found themselves in a heap of trouble in the United States. Karanjit Singh Khatkar, 23, and his older brother Jagroop Singh Khatkar, 24, are accused of pulling off a stunning $233,220 Bitcoin scam that left a woman in Oregon with an empty wallet and a story she’ll likely tell over dinner for years to come.

How It All Went Down

The duo, operating from Surrey, British Columbia, allegedly orchestrated their digital heist using a counterfeit Twitter account named @HitBTCAssist. Posing as customer service representatives of the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange HitBTC, they deceived their victim between October 2017 and August 2018. It’s almost like a modern-day Robin Hood scenario, only without the “steal from the rich to give to the poor” part – this was just theft!

The Master Plan

The scam began innocuously enough, with the victim believing she was communicating with legitimate support staff. Under the pretense of resolving issues, the accused persuaded her to provide her login credentials, effectively handing them the keys to several of her accounts. It’s a classic case of digital identity theft, painted with a layer of crypto chaos.

Bitcoin Takeover

Using the stolen information, Karanjit executed what can only be described as a swift ‘money grab’ by transferring a whopping 23.2 Bitcoin from the victim’s HitBTC account. But the brothers didn’t keep all the loot to themselves; nearly half of it, approximately 11.6 Bitcoin, would later find its way into Jagroop’s Kraken account – a dubious cash-in-transit, if you will.

Facing the Music

Their fraudulent escapade caught the attention of law enforcement, and now the Khatkar brothers are facing a laundry list of charges. They stand accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft among others. Karanjit, somewhat ironically, was arrested upon touching down at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas in July 2019. Jagroop, however, remains at large, presumably trying to avoid the ‘hit’ of the legal system bearing down on him.

Crypto and the Wild West

The incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers lurking in the digital currency landscape. As the cryptocurrency market expands faster than you can say “blockchain,” so do the opportunities for fraudsters to exploit unsuspecting individuals. Adding to the drama, a major supplier of crypto mining hardware, Bitmain, recently accused another project of fraudulently using its name to promote products. It’s a game of survival out there!