Fake Crypto Influencer Gets 15 Months for $1.4M Telegram Staking Fraud

A New York man who masqueraded as well-known crypto influencers to fleece investors is heading to prison.

Noman Saleem, 39, of Queens and Levittown, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a wire-fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow handed down the term.

Starting in December 2020, Saleem impersonated popular online crypto influencers to win victims’ trust, prosecutors said, persuading them to send crypto to wallets he controlled. Once he had the funds, he cut off contact and disappeared.

Saleem set up Telegram handles copying two well-known influencers, drawing thousands of followers to a public channel. He then charged roughly $500 to $600 in crypto for access to a “VIP” channel, where members could message him directly, believing they were talking to the real influencer.

There, he advertised staking rewards over 30- to 90-day terms, telling investors the more they put in, the more they would earn. He never staked anything. Crypto staking typically involves locking up tokens to help secure a blockchain in exchange for yield, often in the range of 5% to 20%.

All told, Saleem took in at least $1.4 million in crypto and cash, including from a victim in Maryland, according to court documents. The government recovered much of it, prosecutors said, after he pleaded guilty last September.

The case, investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore field office, is the latest U.S. prosecution targeting fraud dressed in crypto’s jargon, where impostors lean on the names of trusted figures and the lure of passive income to separate investors from their coins.