Cautioning people against the new trends in cybercrime, city Police Commissioner Seema Latkar on Monday said a total of ₹ 32 crore had been lost by residents of Mysuru, who had invested their money in fake trading apps.
After duping people with their money by claiming that their bank accounts had been frozen and asking them to part with the OTP number to operationalise them again, the fraudsters have now taken to cheating the gullible people with fake stock trading apps.
A total of 61 such cases had been registered by the Mysuru city police from January to July 2024 in which complainants had lost a total ₹32 crore, she said.
Explaining the modus operandi, Ms Latkar said the fraudsters will create groups on various social media by randomly adding members. When gullible people read the messages out of curiosity, they will be informed about the benefits like doubling their money by trading in stocks and shares on the platform. “You will be asked to click on a link to download the app. They will even offer you assistance to make quick money…,” she said.
Initially, when a person invests in the app, it shows money growing very fast. Only, the amount shown on the app is “virtual”. Enticed by the “fast growth of money” on the platform, the victims continue making fresh investments in the app. “They will realise only after two to three weeks that they have been taken for a ride when they are asked to transfer more money if they want to encash their money,” said Ms. Latkar.
Businessmen, professionals, Government servants, etc., have all fallen into this fake trading app scam by investing large sums of money. Several victims had transferred upwards of ₹50 lakh and upto ₹ one crore, she said.
Even though trading requires an investor to open a demat account, the fraudsters have convinced the victims about their procedures, said Ms. Latkar while adding that the victims lodging complaints with the police had not opened any demat accounts.
Parttime job scam
Ms. Latkar also sought to caution people against falling for the “part-time job” scam in which callers ask people to write reviews for hotels, restaurants, or other commercial enterprises.
The fraudsters will inform their victims that their job is only to write reviews for the hotels and other establishments and will even show that money is paid to the victims. The victims will be asked to enroll themselves by making a payment, she said.
Digital arrests
Meanwhile, a total of 23 ‘digital arrest’ cases have been reported in Mysuru City so far including 13 reported from January to July this year. Under digital arrest, the victims receive phone calls from the fraudsters pretending to be calling from a law-enforcing agency. The fraudsters informed the victims that a parcel in their name that had been intercepted by them contained drugs. Next, they demand the victims to transfer money or else an FIR would be booked against them.
Cautioning the public against falling victims to the new and evolving trends in cyber crime, Ms. Latkar asked the citizens to contact cyber crime helpline 1930 or the Cyber Economics and Narcotics (CEN) police stations.
