Mumbai: No! Social media groups WON’T double your money

The stock market cyber scam where fraudsters entice individuals into pouring money into fake investment schemes is getting out of hand Over the past three months alone the cyber police have registered hundreds of cases while several hundred more complaints involving amounts less than Rs 10 lakh have been made at local police stationsThe cyber cell has received complaints from numerous individuals who believed they would make huge profits but were duped of crores of rupees midday has reviewed nine such cases The modus operandi in each one appears to be similar with victims being fleeced after coming across enticing investment schemes on social media platformsMusic director cheatedSharangdev Pandit an Andheribased music director approached the cyber cell last month claiming that he lost Rs 458 crore after investing via a fraudulent app According to his complaint he came across a reel on Instagram promoting investment in AngelOne shares Intrigued he clicked on the link and joined a group called lsquoC55 BLACKROCK portfolio investmentrsquo which already had 142 members In this group he encountered individuals named Melissa and Salim Ramji who offered investment tips that seemed promisingVictims were added to WhatsApp groups where they received investment tips Representation PicPandit stated that Melissa who claimed to work as an assistant manager at AngelOne gained his trust She recommended investing in a companyrsquos IPO to reap a 100 per cent profit Following her instructions he shared investment details in the group and was advised to sell the next morning after making a profit Melissa then shared a Google link leading to an app called lsquoAngelbokrsquo and instructed him to invest through this app From January 6 to February 19 he invested Rs 458 crore and the app showed a total amount of around Rs 1458 crore Later he discovered that he had been deceived37 investors lost Rs 88 lakhAccording to an Andheri resident Arunkumar Chaudhary who filed a police complaint this month his daughter informed him about a shipping company app named lsquoMAERSKrsquo that she came across on Instagram which promised substantial returns on investments ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 87000 with profits withdrawable through the app Chaudhary started investing in this company and through his referrals approximately 37 people put in more than R88 lakh They later learnt that they had been dupedWoman fleeced of Rs 8559LA 51yearold working woman Fatima Fernandez from Santacruz was defrauded of Rs 8559 lakh by scammers In her complaint she mentioned that in November 2023 she was added to a WhatsApp group lsquoSchroder Bharat Investors Hubrsquo which had 200 members sharing investment tips Fernandez stated that when she expressed interest she was encouraged to use their lsquoprivate institutional accountrsquo The crooks also provided her with a SEBI registered certificate further boosting her trust She then invested R1304 lakh and within 20 days the app showed a balance of Rs 242 crore Lured by the apparent gains Fernandez invested more money only to realise shersquod been cheated when attempting to withdraw the amountHousewife duped of Rs 83LNisha Pandya a 57yearold housewife from Vile Parle filed a complaint with the cyber cell stating that she came across an Instagram reel promising investors huge profits Intrigued she clicked on a link and joined a WhatsApp group lsquoB17 Indian Stock Exchangersquo which had 157 members This group also hosted foreign lecturers on Zoom calls providing stock market investment advice and tips Pandya was instructed to open an account on wwwalptradecom and began investing between December 2023 and January 2024 She lost Rs 8370 lakh72yrold scammedPramod Khosla 72 an Andheri resident told the cyber police that he was added to a WhatsApp group lsquoWealth Doubling Planrsquo where scammers shared investment tips As Khosla showed interest the group admin started calling him and providing investment advice He was later asked to download their own app lsquoGoomiirsquo According to Khosla he initially invested R1 lakh and saw that he was able to make a profit After successfully withdrawing R1 lakh he decided to trust the scammers and invested substantial amounts within a few months totalling R6410 lakh He later realised he couldnrsquot withdraw any amountDoctor loses Rs 66 lakhRamchandra Mudliyar a 66yearold doctor from Andheri claimed that in December last year he saw an advertisement on the internet about share market investments Intrigued he joined a WhatsApp group lsquoInvesco Stock Trading Learningrsquo The group members shared screenshots of substantial profits made with tips from the app which led Dr Mudliyar to believe in the scheme Unfortunately he was subsequently defrauded of Rs 66 lakhBusinessman lost Rs 45 lakhAmarjeet Singh a 65yearold businessman from Lokhandwala claimed he was defrauded of Rs 45 lakh In his complaint to the cyber cell he stated that he was added to a WhatsApp group lsquoStock Market Investors Alliancersquo where he was persuaded to invest in the market using tips provided through their own portal Singh believed in the scheme and started investing only to realise later that everything was fake and he had become a victim of cyber fraud resulting in a loss of Rs 45 lakhWoman lost entire savingsJayashree Dikhe a housewife from Bandra who previously ran a restaurant in Worli until 2017 alleged in her complaint that she was added to a WhatsApp group lsquoKKR Stock Discussion Group 63rsquo After watching an Instagram reel about investing in the stock market Subsequently she was defrauded of Rs 4325 lakhProfessional scammedGaurav Wadikar a 42yearold Santacruz resident was defrauded of R2244 lakh by stock market scammers According to his statement he was added to a WhatsApp group called ldquoIndia Equity Dialogue by Goldman Sachsrdquo by an unknown person where discussions about investments and promising returns were ongoing Many group members claimed to be making substantial profits which piqued Wadikarrsquos interest The group admins approached him leading to his loss of R2244 lakh between January and March of this year2 finance graduates held for duping bizman of Rs 6 crLast week the West Mumbai cyber cell arrested two finance graduates from Pune for allegedly duping a businessman of R627 crore The individuals were identified as Vikas Chavan 43 and Pradeep Lad 32 The duo provided accounts to the scammers and the cyber cell discovered that the entire amount was transferred to 159 different bank accounts which have now been frozen for further investigation according to Datta Nalawade DCP CyberThe victim was lured into investing through methods similar to those used by cybercrooks He was added to a WhatsApp group lsquoGoldman Sach Stock Pulluprsquo and subsequently defrauded of R627 crores So far the cyber cell has managed to recover only Rs 140 crore ldquoWe have been advising people not to fall prey to investment schemes promoted through reels Itrsquos important to verify the authenticity of investment apps or demat accounts through genuine government stakeholders such as the RBI and SEBI before making any investmentrdquo said NalawadeRs 458 croreAmount invested by a music director via fake app