Coinspeaker
Indian Court Orders Shutdown of 38 Scam Websites Impersonating Mudrex
India-based crypto exchange Mudrex has gotten a favorable response to its plight from the Delhi High Court. Recently, the exchange saw its reputation as a legitimate business being called into question following feedback and several scam reports that may have been linked to its name.
In response, Mudrex approached the court to seek an order that would help it address the issue and clear its name. Interestingly, the court has now granted that order, mandating the country’s Ministry of Communication to take down such websites that have been using the company’s name to perpetrate scams. In total, no less than 38 websites have been identified in this category.
According to the court order, the ministry has until Friday, August 30, to comply with the directive. However, the authority has yet to issue any official statement to this effect.
Crypto Exchange Mudrex Details Scam
When Mudrex approached the court, it claimed that it only started to get the idea when more than 15 scam victims either came directly to the Bengaluru office or contacted customer support. Although there is no telling how many people have been affected, Mudrex CEO and co-founder Edul Patel has given a rough estimate of how many individuals may have been scammed. Patel said during an interview:
“We estimate the actual number of retail investors scammed could be 1,000, and the estimated loss could be in excess of about $50,000.”
Per the court order, the bad actors fronted as Mudrex employees on messaging app Telegram to lure retail investors into their scheme. They told the investors to complete various tasks such as writing Google reviews to be eligible for rewards and even work opportunities. Additionally, they created fake websites using the Mudrex name and deceived the general public into investing on these websites, the court order said.
Crypto Crime Surges in India
It might be worth noting that the security situation with Mudrex is becoming quite a trend in India at the moment. According to Amit Rangari, the exchange’s legal head, Mudrex initially filed the police complaint in March. However, CEO Patel claims that there is no way to ascertain if the police ever took immediate action after that complaint was lodged. As a fact, he confirmed that people continued to get scammed even after, prompting the firm’s decision to take the court approach. In all of this, Patel says that the firm just hopes to be able to establish a direct line of communication with the ministry. So, it remains to be seen how the ministry will respond to the court order over the next few hours.
Mudrex’s case reflects the general situation in India, where there has been a significant increase in the number of crypto-related scams this year. Most notably, the July exploit of another crypto exchange WazirX, led to the loss of $235 million.
Indian Court Orders Shutdown of 38 Scam Websites Impersonating Mudrex
