5 hours ago
2
Sasidharan Nambiar, 73, a retired Kerala High Court judge, joined a WhatsApp radical named “Aditya Birla Equity Learning” successful December, 2024. He did truthful believing it to beryllium a radical of stock marketplace trading enthusiasts. It is imaginable that helium assumed it was a radical by the Mumbai-based Aditya Birla Finance Limited. By December 30, connected seeing the members of the radical assuring 850 per cent nett connected investments, Nambiar invested implicit Rs 90 lakh, clicking connected links shared successful the radical by Ayana Joseph and Varsha Singh. However, Nambiar realised helium fell unfortunate to a large scam erstwhile the invested wealth was not returned. He filed a ailment astatine the Tripunithura Hill Palace constabulary presumption connected January 5, 2025.
According to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Indians mislaid implicit Rs 120 crore successful concern scams successful conscionable the archetypal 4th of 2024. In 2023, implicit 1 lakh cases of concern fraud were reported. Over 81,000 fake concern groups were operating connected WhatsApp, with an adjacent fig of fraudulent handles posing arsenic morganatic fiscal entities connected X. A elemental hunt for ‘investment fraud’ connected X reveals galore societal media users sharing however they were deceived by cybercriminals promising precocious returns.
Investment scams impact fraudsters gathering spot with victims and tricking them into fake schemes. These scams often committedness precocious returns with small to nary risk.
Examples are aplenty. Neeraj (name changed) was lured into an concern fraud with promises of precocious returns. He joined a stock market trading radical aft coming crossed a societal media station astir it. Like successful Nambiar’s case, Neeraj, too, recovered aggregate users actively engaging successful the group. Assisted by an teacher and his aide, Neeraj invested a important magnitude of wealth implicit the adjacent fewer weeks, expecting precocious returns. Soon, helium recovered himself incapable to entree his funds oregon interaction the representatives of the group. That is erstwhile helium realised helium was scammed.
Aayush (name changed) invested Rs 10 lakh successful the Foreign Exchange Market done a societal media channel. After investing a important amount, the agents stopped responding to his calls. In galore concern scams, cybercriminals airs arsenic banal marketplace experts. For example, successful Meerut, an aged mates was duped retired of their beingness savings—Rs 3.1 crore.
To get much insights into online concern scams, indianexpress.com spoke with Arya Tyagi, cyber information researcher and laminitis of Webhack Solutions, and Manish Agrawal, elder enforcement vice president, recognition quality and control, HDFC Bank.
“Today’s online concern scams person evolved from Ponzi schemes that became prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering treble returns. These scams tin instrumentality galore forms, specified arsenic IPO (Initial Public Offering) scams, colour trading, and online gambling. Regardless of the variation, victims ever look withdrawal issues from the start, arsenic their funds are deposited into fake wallets connected fraudulent websites,” said Tyagi.
“Investment scams are meticulously designed to look legitimate, exploiting people’s fiscal aspirations. Scammers make an illusion of credibility utilizing professional-looking websites, societal media profiles, and fake credentials,” said Agrawal.
Discussing their operations, Agrawal explained that fraudsters often make WhatsApp oregon Telegram groups with fake members who stock fabricated occurrence stories. They initially promote tiny investments, gradually persuading users to deposit larger amounts arsenic their assurance grows. To lure unsuspecting victims, fake profits are displayed done dashboards and chats, coaxing them into reinvesting. Once a important sum is collected, the fraudsters vanish by deleting the groups and blocking the victims.“This manipulation, fueled by the victim’s greed for casual money, makes these scams highly effective,” Agrawal said.
Illustration: Abhishek Mitra
Tyagi besides highlighted a rising inclination of scams disguised arsenic work-from-home (WFH) occupation opportunities. “Scammers delegate elemental tasks, specified arsenic penning Google reviews oregon liking YouTube videos, and connection tiny payments. Eventually, victims are encouraged to put their net into a fraudulent wallet, turning a occupation connection into an concern scam,” helium said.
Tyagi besides revealed immoderate reddish flags successful these scams to ticker retired for, specified arsenic unrealistic promises, overseas numbers and encrypted calls, changeless demands for money, fake websites, etc.
Illustration: Abhishek Mitra
Safety tips to support yourself
Being cautious astir sketchy offers that look excessively bully to beryllium true, adjacent with testimonials, is the perfect way. One should debar transferring wealth to online acquaintances and put lone done SEBI-registered entities. Suspicious WhatsApp oregon Telegram groups should beryllium exited and reported, and verify schemes connected the authoritative websites of the companies named.
Reporting fraud
If you travel crossed suspicious concern offers, study them connected the Chakshu Portal astatine https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/. If you are a unfortunate of fraud, interaction your slope instantly and record a ailment astatine https://cybercrime.gov.in/ oregon telephone 1930.
As the satellite evolves, the integer scenery does too, bringing caller opportunities—and caller risks. Scammers are becoming much sophisticated, exploiting vulnerabilities to their advantage. In our peculiar diagnostic series, we delve into the latest cybercrime trends and supply applicable tips to assistance you enactment informed, secure, and vigilant online.
.png "indianexpress.")
.png "khaleejtimes")
.png "arabnews")
.png "gulfnews"){kind=logo}
English (US) · 
Hindi (IN) ·