The current literacy rate in India is 74.04%, but how many of these individuals are financially literate and know the dos and don’ts of investment?
Wondering what led to this question?
It’s the alarming number of cybercrime frauds that resulted in a loss of ₹14,000 crores in 2024 alone.
Most of these scams are related to clone trading apps, where scammers trick victims into downloading apps that mimic well-known financial and trading platforms using malicious links.
Most of these scams are related to clone trading apps, where the scammer makes the victim download an app that mimics most of the renowned financial and trading platforms using links.
Recently, we came across two such cases where one woman lost ₹13 lakhs and a man lost ₹11.5 lakhs.
In both cases, the scammer made them download the app which was a clone app, and then by showing high returns and profits made them invest in IPOs.
When they tried to withdraw funds, the transaction failed and the scammer gave illogical reasons behind that like:
- Your credit score is below 100.
- You need to pay a 30% tax on the profit.
- You have to apply for one more IPO to unlock the profit.
Victims who already have invested a lot of amounts left with no other choice and sometimes to get their hard-earned money ended up adding more funds.
Later, the scammer blocks them and removes them from the group.
Now this story is not only of these two victims but almost every other person who lacks financial knowledge and gets enticed by the high profits displayed by these scammers.
Want to protect yourself from falling into such scams?
Here’s the Modus Operandi of Scammers
There’s no doubt that technological advancements have made our lives easier, but they’ve also created opportunities for numerous scams.
Scammers often use social media platforms to run ads promising enticing profits.
From there they capture their next victims and the journey goes like this:
Enticing Targets
- Victims click on ads and are added to a WhatsApp or Telegram group.
- Scammers post screenshots of fake profit-and-loss statements (PnLs).
- They share links to download fake apps that often mimic the names and interfaces of well-known trading platforms.
- Some of these apps are even available on the Play Store, adding to their credibility.
Trapping Targets
- After posting enough fake PnLs, the scammer sends a personal message to the victim.
- They further entice the victim by promising high returns and profits.
- Finally, the scammer convinces the victim to download the app using a link and provides bank account details for fund transfers.
Creates Inducement
- The scammer displays high profits on the victim’s investments.
- They then ask the victim to add more funds to increase returns.
- Eventually, they push the victim to invest in fake IPOs.
- The scammer shows a positive allotment status with promises of 100% or more returns, convincing the victim to invest even more.
Diverting Funds
- The victim on realizing it to be a scam, tries to withdraw funds but unfortunately, transactions failed.
- Sometimes, the scammer asks to pay tax amount for a successful transaction.
- Soon, the scammer circulates the collected amount to multiple bank accounts.
- Eventually, this money is converted into cryptocurrency and reaches scammers’ pockets.
What can a Victim do in Such Cases?
Now, if a person gets trapped in such scams then the only option left is to report it to Cyber Crime. Again earlier the reporting, the more the chances to recover losses.
Thinking Why?
The reason is, that the scammer circulates the money in multiple bank accounts and eventually converts the fund amount to cryptocurrency.
Further, these scammers generally use Mule Accounts which are generally of the least suspected people like autorickshaw drivers. They first collect their KYC documents by showing them fake government schemes and then open multiple bank accounts using their name.
In some other cases, scammer rents bank accounts in exchange for a few thousand rupees.
In simple terms, it is not only difficult but almost impossible to reach the original mastermind behind such scams.
Cybercrime police, however, stop the circulation of funds from the reported bank accounts and help victims in getting recovery of losses by freezing the reported bank accounts.
Here the chances of getting a full refund again are difficult but timely reporting can increase the chances.
It is therefore important firstly to stay alert and away from such scams, however, unfortunately, if you get trapped then taking immediate actions can protect you from more losses.
