13 minutes agoAuthor: Sandeep Singh
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In Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, cyber fraudsters defrauded a youth, Amarendra Kumar, of Rs 15.49 lakh on the pretext of investing in the stock market.
Actually, in the month of June, Amarendra saw an advertisement on Facebook about the stock market. The advertisement talked about a course for investment. When Amarendra contacted the number given in the advertisement, he was asked to download an app for the course. Investment in the stock market was done through this app.
Amarendra invested a total of Rs 15.49 lakh from his and his wife’s bank accounts on different dates. During this time, the money invested in the app appeared to have multiplied with profits. When Amarendra tried to withdraw this amount, he was asked to deposit an amount of more than Rs 11 lakh. In this way, Amarendra became a victim of stock market scam by cyber criminals.
This is not the first case of stock market scam. In the last few years, many such news have come from other states of the country as well.
so today news of need I will talk about what is a stock market scam. Also, we will know that-
- How do cyber criminals defraud investors?
- How can we identify fake advertisements on social media?
- How to avoid stock market fraud?
Expert: Ishaan Sinha, Cyber Expert (New Delhi)
According to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), till April this year, cyber criminals have committed fraud of more than Rs 1750 crore. In this, the maximum fraud of Rs 1,420 crore has been carried out through investment scam and Rs 222 crore in the name of trading scam.
Question- What is stock market scam?
answer- In the last few years, the number of people investing money in the stock market has increased rapidly.
The major reason for this is the easy availability of stock market information to people through trading apps.
Nowadays, you will find many such groups or advertisements on social media apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram) that claim to make money easily from the stock market. Most people join these ads after seeing them. After this, cyber criminals target people through fake apps to cheat them.
Question- How do people get trapped in stock market scams?
answer- Cybercriminals send invite links to add people to WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook groups. Along with the link, they make fake claims of teaching investment skills for free, zero loss scheme and 100% return guarantee, due to which people easily fall into their trap.
Understand from the graphic given below how people are made victims of scams through social media groups.
Question- How can you protect yourself from stock market scams?
answer- Cyber expert Ishaan Sinha says that if someone is sending you advertisements on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram or Telegram about teaching trading or stock market, then do not fall into their trap.
The investments mentioned in the app by scammers never happen on the stock exchanges. When you go to withdraw the money shown in the name of returns, you will get nothing. In fact, the money shown in the name of returns is just a virtual number.
Understand how to avoid stock market scam from the graphic given below.
Let us understand these points given in the graphic in detail.
- Always seek a license issued by SEBI or RBI for verification before taking investment advice. Be cautious of unsolicited calls, emails or messages via social media.
- If you are joining a WhatsApp or Telegram group, then definitely check who is its admin. If it is related to finance, then definitely ask for their registration number. Check its certification from SEBI or the relevant licensing platform.
- The easiest way to protect yourself from stock market scams is to not trust anyone without proof. Before investing money, go to SEBI’s website and confirm. If the institution is not registered, do not transact.
- Before investing through any new app or website, verify whether it is real or fake. If it is a stock investment app then check the SEBI license and if it is an NBFC (Non Banking Finance Company) then check the RBI license.
- Avoid downloading APK apps that are not on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- As a precaution, change your password frequently. Also, use two factor authentication (2FA). This is a feature that acts as an extra layer for additional security of your social media account.
- Never share your personal or financial information like login ID, password, bank details or OTP with anyone, even if someone claims to be from a reputed firm, company or bank.
Question: What warning has SEBI issued regarding this scam?
answer- The Stock Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a warning to retail investors regarding stock market scams.
SEBI has said that scammers, who claim to be registered with SEBI, lure people with the promise of guaranteed high returns. Never trust such investments on stock exchanges as these transactions take place only as paper trades within the app.
