In today’s Mint, there’s a good article on how scamsters are luring investors with promises of high returns, making them trade through fake/cloned apps, and showcasing fake deals between the company and SEBI. All of which is fraudulent.
A few methods of how the scams work are:
- You receive an ad on Instagram/Facebook that looks something like this, named after broking companies
Ways investors are lured into the scams:
- They ask for your KYC details and create a WhatsApp group where they share tips.
- After posting the tips, they ask you to download an app, preferably a cloned version of an existing broker’s app.
- The admin gains your trust by posting non-trading related content and eventually lures you into investing lakhs of money.
- There have been cases of impersonating top-level executives of brokers, including the COO and CEO.
- Block the funds and investors won’t be able to withdraw their amount
How can you avoid the scamsters?
Firstly, the apps and websites are becoming too convincing, and we need to be careful of what’s being shown.
Here’s a tip by @JayG in the article:
Users should first go to the SEBI website and check all details of brokers registered there and even contact the customer care number provided for assurance.
There were some cases brought to our attention by our users as well, where we took prominent action. We have alerted through various channels, including pan-India circulations in newspapers.
Here’s a detailed article and notice from @PravinJ on our community: Alert: Fraudulent Scams conducted in name of Stock Brokers
Here’s the link to the Mint Article:
Look out for your close ones, family, and friends, and do your own due diligence before taking any steps.