ABOUT BITCOIN

ASP Triveni Singh said bitcoin ▪ is a virtual or a digital currency that uses rules of cryptography for regulation and generation of units of currency. He said bitcoin falls under the ▪ scope of cryptocurrency and was the first and most valuable among them.

The values of bitcoins defer

▪ time to time as per their availability and demand. He said it was first introduced for online transactions in 2009.

HOW IT WORKS?

Singh said bitcoins are virtual ▪ currency designed to be ‘self-contained’ for their value, with no need for banks to move and store the money. “They possess value and trade ▪ just as if they were gold nuggets in your pocket. You can use bitcoins to purchase goods and services online, or can hold them with hope to sell it out once their value increases over the year,” he added.

MODUS OPERANDI

Explaining the modus operandi,

▪ the ASP said the fraudsters basically created a user ID on different virtual currency exchange websites and put bitcoins on sale. They first lured traders to purchase the bitcoins at low prices and even transferred some into their e-wallets to win their trust.

“After this, the fraudsters got ▪ the original currency transferred into their bank accounts, opened on forged identities, when the traders demanded bigger amount of bitcoins,” he said, adding, “Thereafter they disappear after withdrawing money from their bank account.”