Investment Fraudsters Using IT and ED Names to Instill Fear Among Victims

 Hyderabad: In what is a matter of serious concern, there has been a major increase in investment scams that have led many victims to lose crores. The seriousness can be gauged from the fact that victims are lining up every day at cybercrime stations with a whole lot of complaints about being conned by the scammers.

The street-smart fraudsters have been adopting a new modus operandi to instill fear among the potential victims-they are using names of ED and IT department.

A private employee from Begumpet broke down before the Hyderabad CCS after he lost Rs 1.05 crore in a gradual investment fraud. He kept investing as directed by the fake company oblivious of the danger that lurked around.

“I came across a Facebook link that said they would help me buy stocks at prices lower than the market value. As I was interested in investing, I clicked on the link and registered. Later I was added to a WhatsApp group, where the admins were Priyanka and Sanjay Patel, who had displayed pictures of persons who looked genuine. The group had 187 people,” a victim said.

“The website looked genuine and consisted of shares of well-known companies. So in the final statement it would appear like this — for example, for a company share, the buying price would be Rs 204 and the selling price Rs 228. That way, for 400 shares, the net profit would be `9,236, which also includes commission. Seeing that I am getting Rs 9K for investing Rs 200, made me confident and I kept investing,” he said.

After making initial windrawals, the victim was asked for more money in the name of taxes and additional charges. On becoming suspicious, he asked other members of the WhatsApp group, who asked him not to worry and have patience as he would get profits. Thus bolstered, the victim also took loans in order to invest more.

“When they finally stopped responding to me, I realised that I was being scammed. I lost all the money I had. My family and friends left me and I was on the point of committing suicide. I pondered for a while. Wiser counsel was in approaching the police and I headed to the cybercrime police,” the victim said.

Speaking about the hapless victim, Hyderabad CCS sub-inspector Venkatadri told Deccan Chronicle, “The victims belong to all sections — workers, unemployed youth, and well-settled private employees. They all fall prey as they wish to earn easy money.”

The fake advertisements that these scammers run consist of images of real and well-known persons in the field of stock market.

On the new modus operandi used by fraudsters, Cyberabad cybercrime ACP Chandrakant said that they have now started to threaten the victims in the name of IT department and Enforcement Directorate.

“What happens initially is that they first start off by educating them on how to invest in shares and then they make them invest. When they see that a victim has the capacity to invest more, they tell them that they are very good at trading and that they should join the ‘VIP’ group,” he said.

“Then they gradually start to assign IPOs to them. When the victim refuses, they threaten them in the name of certain law enforcement agencies like the IT department and ED. They say that these departments have been questioning them about so many transactions made by the victim’s accounts. When the victim gets scared, they invest until they get bankrupt. At that point, the scamsters stop responding to the victim’s calls,” Chandrakant said.

GFX: What to do?

Verify before investing money;

Understand that genuine stock market investments are subject to market risks and no reputable advisor can guarantee profits;

Verify institutional information with SEBI and their genuineness on official websites only;

When in trouble call 1930 or reach out to cybercrime police or complaint on cybercrime.gov.in