Investment scams: City witnesses over 700% rise
CYBERFRAUDS | Cases registered between January and May this year; compared to scams filed during same period last year
There has been a more than 700% rise in investment fraudrelated cyber-crime cases registered in Mumbai between January and May this year, as compared to the cases registered during the same period last year.
According to official statistics, this year, 355 investment fraud cases were registered in Mumbai, out of which only 76 cases were detected and 91 persons were arrested. Last year, 42 investment fraud cases were registered out of which six cases were detected and 20 persons were arrested.
According to the police, the modus-operandi used by the scammers is that they first advertise their investment schemes on social media platforms and induce the victim to join a WhatsApp group created by them, that provides information on stock trading. The victims are then asked to download a bogus trading application and are asked to invest money in the stock market through it. The victims are then induced to send money in different bank accounts and the victim could see their earnings in the said app. However, when they try to withdraw the said money, they are asked to pay more money if they want to withdraw their ‘earnings’.
In March this year, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) also issued an alert for citizens warning them about scammers duping people using fake trading apps.
“Avoid downloading apps from third-party stores, websites, ads or through links received in social media posts/chats/SMS. Download applications only from trusted sources like legitimate websites or authorised app stores. Properly verify the app details in the developer’s website or app stores before downloading it. Always provide only the necessary permissions required for the functioning of any app,” the alert stated.
It added, “Before granting any authorisation, carefully read the privacy statement. Never share your login information for financial apps with anyone. Enable multifactor authentication in all sensitive information-related apps. Pay attention to reviews and comments of the users, before installing any applications. Examine the app’s promises and schemes carefully. Report cyber frauds and cyber crimes to 1930 immediately or visit https://www.cybercrime.gov.in.”