Chirag Tomar, a 30-year-old Indian citizen, pleaded guilty to U.S. charges for creating a counterfeit version of Coinbase’s website. This deceptive site allowed him to steal login credentials from unsuspecting users, resulting in the theft of over $9.5 million in cryptocurrency from hundreds of victims.
Tomar was apprehended at the Atlanta airport on Dec. 20, 2023, during a visit to his family on a travel visa. He faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, with each charge carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The case came to light thanks to Seamus Hughes of CourtWatch, who initially flagged Tomar’s activities. Court documents revealed that Tomar and his accomplices created a fraudulent version of Coinbase Pro’s website to deceive customers into divulging their login information. From June 2021 until Tomar’s arrest in late 2023, at least 542 victims fell prey to this scheme, losing their cryptocurrency investments.
Indian Guilty of Making Fake Coinbase Site, Swiping $9.5M Crypto (Credits: X)
The U.S. Secret Service identified Tomar as a member of the criminal network through his use of an email account bearing his real name to communicate with co-conspirators. Additionally, he maintained a spreadsheet detailing his victims and the amounts stolen from each. Tomar also transmitted stolen or fraudulently obtained identity documents to other email addresses, which were used to establish accounts at Binance, another cryptocurrency exchange.
Internet searches conducted by Tomar between June 2021 and October 2022, such as “fake Coinbase page,” “Coinbase scam,” and “how to take money from Coinbase without OTP,” further implicated him in the fraud. Notably, he utilized the same email address to apply for his U.S. travel visa. Tomar utilized the ill-gotten gains to finance an extravagant lifestyle, acquiring luxury watches and high-end vehicles like Lamborghini and Porsches and traveling to destinations like London, Dubai, and Thailand. Tomar is currently awaiting sentencing for his crimes.
