22-year-old Pune, India resident Naved Alam saw the disappearance of INR 2.5 lakhs, or roughly $3000, in cryptocurrency following a meeting with prospective employers.

In an X post on March 31, Alam stated, "I'm sharing my story to raise awareness and stop others from going through the same ordeal."

Alam claimed in his post that he was contacted by 'crankybugatti,' an X user, about a possible position as a product designer in his line of work.

The employers offered a chance with a web-based video chat application called "SocialSpectra." This was followed by a request for Alam to transfer the conversation to a Discord channel, which he said appeared normal.
 

The actual hoax started at this point, as the impostor recruiters claimed to have been impressed with Alam's work and wanted to move forward with the HR interview. An "HR" called Alam and sent him a link for onboarding. Alam claimed that the link led to adware that was posing as an app for international communication.

Alam's Phantom wallet was empty and his staked assets on Kamino Finance, a defi platform based in Solana, were liquidated by the malware.

He added, "In a matter of moments, I lost $3000 to scammers who prey on gullible people searching for real opportunities."
 

Alam told a local media station in a statement that he had spoken with "crankybuggati" and requested the money be returned. The con artist declared that he was not involved in the plan and promised to resolve the issue by getting in touch with a friend who purports to be involved in cybercrime prevention. Alam expressed his disbelief in this.

At the time of publication, the X account belonging to the fraudster was suspended.
 

It's interesting that the scam happened at the same time that Indian regulators are stepping up their crackdown on illegal activity involving cryptocurrency. In accordance with Indian anti-money laundering legislation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India issued a charge sheet against 299 organizations last month. The accusation stemmed from investors falling for scams purporting to be investments in cryptocurrency mining operations.

On the international front, meanwhile, South Korean officials have ended a con that cost its victims more than $4.1 million. The victims allegedly received promises of enormous returns on their cryptocurrency investments.