Hyderabad: The promise of massive profits in online share trading is luring unsuspecting investors into a trap, leading to devastating financial losses. Cybercriminals are targeting individuals through WhatsApp groups, posing as legitimate stock market insiders and exploiting the growing interest in share trading.
These scammers invite potential victims to join their WhatsApp groups, where they claim that leading companies are about to launch Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). To build credibility, the groups are filled with members who are part of the scam, all posting fake success stories about their profits. Believing the ruse, victims are convinced to download counterfeit apps designed to look like those of real trading companies.
Victims are then instructed to deposit money directly into bank accounts purportedly linked to the IPOs. Initially, everything seems legitimate--investors can see their investments, allotted shares and profits on the fake apps, even withdrawing small amounts to build trust--however, as they gradually invest larger sums, often amounting to crores of rupees, they encounter issues when trying to withdraw their profits.
The scammers demand additional payments under the guise of taxes, and soon after, the customer care lines go silent, and the WhatsApp group members disappear. With no recourse, victims are left with significant financial losses, leading them to finally report the fraud to the cybercrime helpline
Chinese Gangs Behind the Scams
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has uncovered that these scams are orchestrated by Chinese criminal gangs operating out of Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. These gangs are not only defrauding Indian citizens, but are also exploiting young Indians by luring them abroad with false promises of employment, only to involve them in these illegal activities.
A Growing Concern in Telangana
Telangana has become a hotbed for these types of cybercrimes, with the state accounting for over 40% of the country's cybercrime reports last year. A significant portion of these crimes involved fake trading apps, which have become a major concern for authorities.
According to I4C statistics, as of April 2024, cybercrime victims across India have lost a staggering Rs 1,770 crore in 7.4 lakh cases. Out of these, only 20,043 cases were specifically related to fake trading, yet these alone accounted for Rs 1420.48 crore, an alarming 80.22% of the total financial losses in cybercrimes.
If you don't do research, you are at risk, says Satish Kantheti, Joint Managing Director, GenMoney
''Trusting the words of strangers and doing share trading online is like cheating. Do your research rather than believing what someone else tells you. Otherwise, it is like falling into risk. Claiming such a profit in share trading is a crime under SEBI rules. It should be noted that if they say so, it is the work of fakes. Only 10-20 leading stock broking companies are trading online', said Satish Kantheti, Joint Managing Director, GenMoney.
A software consultant living in Kondapur, Hyderabad, saw an advertisement in the name of a leading securities firm on Facebook. He clicked on it and a WhatsApp group link appeared. After joining it, a person made a WhatsApp call in the name of the CIO of the organisation. He added an app to apply for IPOs of newly listed companies in the share market. After that, Rs. 5.27 crore was transferred in several instalments to their bank accounts and they disappeared.
