The fake bitcoin mine
The story of a cryptocurrency scam that cost two men in India their life savings, leaving them devastated.
With crypto currencies – like Bitcoin and Troon - booming there’s never been a better time to mine for crypto online. Mines in this context describe hundreds of computers that solve complex mathematical puzzles to produce cryptocurrency. And with many wanting to jump onto the crypto band wagon mines are springing up across the world - even fake ones. For Assignment, James Clayton speaks to two Indian victims of a crypto scam - who thought they were investing in a mine, which in fact did not exist. He looks at how one of his own 91Èȱ¬ reports was used by the scammers as part of the deception. And he investigates how scammers were able to extract money from victims with seeming impunity. With India close to banning crypto currency currencies all together - are crypto scams ruining the Bitcoin dream?
Reporter: James Clayton
Producer: Regan Morris
Editor: Bridget Harney
(Image: Hacker in front of a computer. Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin)
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Thu 16 Dec 2021 02:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service
- Thu 16 Dec 2021 09:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service
- Thu 16 Dec 2021 13:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
- Thu 16 Dec 2021 20:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
- Thu 16 Dec 2021 21:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except Online, Americas and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East & UK DAB/Freeview
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes