You can spot most fake crypto apps in India before you deposit by checking three things. First, the legal entity: find the company name behind the app and check it against FIU-IND's published list of registered VDA service providers. Second, the source: install apps only from the official website or the official store listing you reached yourself, never from a link someone sent you. Third, the pressure: if anyone is rushing you to deposit, promising returns, or asking for your OTP, password or seed phrase, stop.
Real platforms make you do KYC inside their own app or website, through their own process, at your pace. Fake ones arrive through chat, come with a helpful stranger attached, and push you to send money quickly. If you have already deposited into an app you now suspect, call 1930 and your bank straight away.
How fake apps reach you
Fake crypto apps rarely show up when you go looking for a platform yourself. They come to you. The common routes:
- A message on WhatsApp or Telegram from someone you met online, sharing a "trading app" they use.
- An invitation to a group that posts screenshots of big profits, with an admin who offers to help you join.
- An ad or post linking to a site that looks like a real exchange, with a slightly different address.
- A "customer support" agent who tells you to install a new version of an app to fix a problem.
The pattern is the same each time. Someone else chooses the app for you. That alone is a reason to slow down.
A fake app often lets you deposit easily and shows growing balances on screen. The trouble starts when you try to withdraw: suddenly there is a "tax", a "release fee" or a "verification deposit" to pay first. The numbers on screen were never real.
Check the legal entity
Every platform that offers VDA services to Indian users in the course of business must register with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. That obligation is based on the activity, not on whether the company has an office in India.
FIU-IND publishes the list of registered VDA service providers on its website, fiuindia.gov.in. To use it:
- Find the legal company name behind the app. A real platform states it on its website, usually in the footer, terms or contact page.
- Look for that name on FIU-IND's list yourself.
- If the app will not tell you who runs it, or the name is not on the list, do not deposit.
FIU-IND acts against platforms that operate without registering. On 1 October 2025 it issued notices to 25 offshore VDA service providers and moved to have their websites taken down. At that time, 50 providers were registered. Being blocked for non-registration is a compliance finding under the PMLA, not a finding that a platform is a scam. But either way, an unregistered app is not one to trust with your money.
As a reference point: Unocoin, the platform I co-founded, is Unocoin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., based in Bangalore. It is registered with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the PMLA and has operated since 2013.
Check the domain and the source
A fake site can copy a real exchange's logo, colours and wording in an afternoon. What it cannot copy is the address.
- Type the platform's web address yourself, or use a bookmark you saved earlier. Do not click links from messages, ads or groups.
- Look closely at the spelling. Extra letters, swapped characters, extra words like "pro" or "app", or a different ending are common tricks.
- Install the app from the link on the platform's own official website, or search the store for it yourself and check the developer name matches the company.
- Never install an app from a file someone sends you in chat.
Can a fake app be on a store? Fake and copycat apps do sometimes appear in app stores before they are removed. A store listing alone is not proof. Check the developer name, and reach the listing from the platform's own website.
Pressure is the tell
When I think about what separates a genuine platform from a fake one, it is not the design. It is the behaviour.
A genuine platform makes you do KYC inside its own app or website. On Unocoin, KYC with PAN verification and Aadhaar authentication is done inside the Unocoin app or site only. It does not ask you to send documents in chat. It does not have someone call you to hurry you along. Its support never asks for your OTP, password, PAN or seed phrase.
A fake one creates urgency: a bonus that expires tonight, a "limited slot", a mentor who is disappointed you have not deposited yet. Anyone promising guaranteed or fixed returns on crypto is a red flag on its own. Crypto products are unregulated in India and can be highly risky. Nobody honest promises you a number.
When we started Unocoin in 2013, I spent years answering the question "how do I buy Bitcoin safely?" at meetups in Bangalore. The answer then is the answer now. Go slowly. Choose the platform yourself. Check who runs it. Start small.
Common disguises
Fake apps change names often, but they tend to wear a few familiar costumes:
- The "auto-trading bot": an app that claims software trades for you and shows daily profits. Real markets do not produce steady daily returns, and nobody honest promises them.
- The "mining" or "staking" app: you deposit, it shows rewards piling up, and withdrawals need a fee first.
- The lookalike exchange: a copy of a real platform's name and design on a slightly different address. Unocoin's real website is unocoin.com. Anything else using our name is not us.
- The "VIP group": a chat group where admins post profit screenshots and push members toward one app.
Compare that with what a real plan looks like. A Systematic Buying Plan on Unocoin buys a fixed rupee amount from ₹10 on a schedule, with a 0% SBP fee, and promises nothing about price. If an app promises you more than that, it is telling you something.
If you already deposited
If you have sent money to an app you now suspect:
- Call 1930 as fast as you can. It is the national helpline for financial cyber fraud, open round the clock. Complaints are passed to banks and wallets, which can freeze money still in an account. The system behind it has saved more than ₹7,000 crore across more than 23 lakh complaints, according to a Rajya Sabha reply on 17 December 2025.
- Call your bank to stop further payments.
- File a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, cybercrime.gov.in.
- Do not pay any "withdrawal fee" or "tax" the app demands. That is how the loss grows.
- Ignore "recovery agents" who contact you afterwards offering to get your money back for a fee.
Keep screenshots, transaction IDs and the app's details for your complaint.
Our platform checklist puts all of these checks in one place: FIU-IND registration, how long a platform has operated, what it says about where assets are held, whether it deducts TDS, and the red flags. Use it on any app, including ours. New to Bitcoin? Start on the Learn page.
Common questions
How do I know if a crypto app is fake?
Find the legal company behind it and check it on FIU-IND's list of registered VDA service providers, reach the app from the official website yourself, and walk away if anyone rushes you, promises returns or asks for your OTP or seed phrase.
Can a fake app be on the Play Store?
Copycat apps sometimes appear in app stores before they are removed. Check that the developer name matches the company, and reach the listing from the platform's own website rather than a link someone sent you.
Is an app blocked by FIU a scam?
Not necessarily. FIU-IND's stated ground for blocking is non-compliance with the PMLA, usually failure to register. That is not a fraud finding, but an unregistered platform is still not one to deposit with.
What if I already deposited money?
Call 1930 and your bank immediately, file a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in, do not pay any withdrawal fee the app demands, and ignore anyone offering paid recovery.