CoinDCX Founders Get a Polite Police Invite, Not Cuffs: Impostors Execute a Classic Rug‑Pull on the Cops

Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX has clarified that its co-founders, Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, were invited for a chat with authorities – not read their Miranda rights – after a police complaint absurdly alleged they were the masterminds behind a crypto scam. It seems the police FIR confused the builders with the grifters.

Initial reports from the Economic Times suggested the Thane Police had detained the duo on accusations of criminal breach of trust, but other outlets like Entrackr provided the crucial context: the founders were simply summoned for questioning. The classic case of FUD spreading faster than a memecoin pump.

The drama stems from a spoof website doing a convincing impression of CoinDCX. A 42-year-old insurance consultant filed the FIR after watching roughly 71 lakh rupees (about $75,000) vanish into the blockchain void via the fake portal, as reported by the Times of India. Another reminder that in crypto, if the URL looks even slightly sus, it probably is.

CoinDCX hit back on X, labeling the FIR “false and filed as a conspiracy” by impersonators who allegedly funneled the funds to unrelated third-party accounts. The exchange firmly denied any wrongdoing by its founders, because apparently even running a billion-dollar exchange doesn't make you immune to being impersonated by some guy with a GoDaddy account.

In a broader statement, CoinDCX pointed to the epidemic of brand impersonation and cyber fraud plaguing India's digital finance scene, noting it's fully cooperating with law-enforcement while trying to teach users not to click on everything that sparkles. A noble, if Sisyphean, task.

The company revealed it has logged over 1,212 counterfeit sites aping its coindcx.com domain between April 1, 2024 and Jan. 5, 2026, highlighting the industrial-scale phishing operations targeting Indian crypto users. That's a lot of effort for a "security alert" DM scam.

This incident is just one droplet in a monsoon of investment scams in India: Ministry of Home Affairs data cited by Insights IAS shows that 76% of financial losses in 2025 stemmed from such cons. Globally, Web3 platforms bled roughly $3.95 billion to hacks and exploits the same year, because the "code is law" mantra sometimes means lawless code.

Founded in 2018 in Mumbai, CoinDCX is one of India's crypto OGs. It was valued at about $2.45 billion after a Coinbase Ventures cash injection in October 2025. The exchange is no stranger to drama, having faced scrutiny after a July 2025 breach where attackers siphoned around $44 million from an internal operational account, though, crucially, user funds stayed safe. Even the best fortresses have a poorly guarded side door.

CoinDCX has reiterated its pledge to play nice with the authorities and keep its users in the loop as this impersonation farce continues. One can only hope the next police summons is for the actual scammers.