Doctors, engineers, bank managers among many are getting lured by investment thugs and losing huge amount of money
Between January and April 2024, Indian citizens suffered losses exceeding ₹1,750 crore due to cybercriminal activities. This was reported through over 740,000 complaints lodged on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, which is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre stated that in May 2024, an average of 7,000 cybercrime complaints were recorded daily, marking a surge of 113.7 per cent compared to the period between 2021 and 2023, and a 60.9 per cent increase from 2022 to 2023, according to media reports.
Among all the cases mentioned, 85 per cent of these cases pertained to online financial scam. The residents of Guwahati are also falling prey to financial frauds, and according to new trends, many residents are losing crores in both online and offline investment scams.
DB Stock Broking, an investment firm based in the Borah Service area of Guwahati, is under scrutiny following serious allegations of financial misconduct. The firm's owner, Dipankar Barman, is at large, and the office has been shut down since August 19 after employees faced mounting pressure from distressed investors. Barman’s partner is arrested and is in police remand. Some employees were also quizzed but left as even they had invested in the company.
ALSO READ: Shikhar Dhawan Retires From Domestic & International Cricket
But many victims are approaching the police and according to sources if it is found to be a scam, it will be worth around thousands of crores. This is an example of an offline investment scam and such scams are not new in the city or the state. There are infamous examples of financial scams like Saradha chit fund scam, Sahara scam, Rose Valley scam, and many more. Thousands of people in Assam and Guwahati have suffered because of such scams. Now along with offline investments scam there is a threat of online or cyber financial frauds.
City cyber police station recently recovered ₹50000 from the accounts of cyber thugs who defrauded a victim from Khanamukh of ₹3 lakh with cheap interest loan scheme.
Similarly, a team from cyber police station of city police recovered ₹1,13,000 after the victim from Akashinagar was defrauded by scammers in a crypto investment site COINDCX. These are some cases where police managed to recover money, but there are also many cases registered where money was not recovered.
Many victims have similarly complained about mobile trading app, YBY, were victims earn a 6% profit on their investment initially. The victims were encouraged to recruit more users, like a chain system, to earn an extra ₹500 daily. After investing huge sums and with a greed of earning more, finally the investors were defrauded of huge amounts of money.
A senior police official talking to GPlus on condition of anonymity said, “Offline or online investment scams, the main issue is greed,” adding that people who are lured into the scam want to earn more in short time. He said that initially the investors are given profits in lower investments to gain their trust, later when they invest larger amounts, they are not paid raising an alarm and the victims thereafter complain about the scam. “People should logically invest questioning how can any company provide so much of profit,” said the official.
A financial investment expert who was also defrauded last year online talking to GPlus said, “There are two three modus operandi which the cyber investments thugs utilise to defraud the victims,” adding crypto currency scam, pyramid scam and direct investment.
In crypto currency scam victims are identified by their social media habits and accordingly lured. “Initially they invest less amount but around 30 to 50 per cent profits are given,” adding that gradually the investors start investing more. When a huge amount is invested they are shown in an app that they have earned the profit but they cannot withdraw the money. “The victims than call the call centre and they are given excuses that because they are level three or level four investors, they can withdraw money after reaching the next level for which they have to invest some more,” said the investor adding that accordingly the investor invests more and gets trapped. Finally it is realised that it was a scam.
Similarly the pyramid scam involves chain of investors and the first investor is given huge profit, when the chain gets bigger and the investment is huge, the group is defrauded. In direct investment stocks are purchased by investors from cyber criminals. Initially for less investment the profit is returned, but when the investment gets huge the victims are defrauded. “It is shocking that the victims are well-to-do people from doctors, engineers to bank managers,” adding that investment should be made carefully.
The police official said that it is very difficult to track cyber criminals as they can operate from anywhere in the world.
