Fake forex and stock trading apps are a new way to scam gullible investors

Be wary of forex and stock trading mobile applications that you download and invest in. As awareness of fake investment scams promising huge profits and his FedEx courier scam is slowly catching up, cyber crooks have innovated and are now running several fake forex and stock trading apps. It’s open to the public. To defraud gullible investors.

“Recently, there have been many reported cases of people investing in fake stocks and forex trading apps and incurring losses. When you invest through this app, your investment will continue to grow with very good returns that will appease the investor’s instincts. But when you try to withdraw your money, the app operator never returns your money. In fact, the invested funds are siphoned off and are not invested anywhere,” said a senior police officer.

Past cases

A 45-year-old businessman, who lost a total of Rs 1.6 billion in an online investment scam through a foreign exchange trading app after being lured by a woman he met online, recently filed a complaint with the Southern District Cyber ​​Police. A few hours later, another 39-year-old businessman from Shankarapuram entered the station complaining that he had lost more than Rs 7 million on the same day, also through a foreign exchange trading app.

Based on their complaints, the Southern Division Cyber ​​Crime Police registered a separate case under the IT Act, 2000 for impersonation and cheating.

The first victim, Chetan M, 45, a resident of Banashankari Stage 2, told police that he met a girl named Hasini Ravichandran on a dating site a few days ago. Mr. Hasini claimed to work for a construction company and had several chats with Mr. Chetan on his social media accounts before introducing him to the forex trading platform. She volunteers to teach him the tricks of the trade, and online he creates a Telegram customer service ID for her, which he needs for trading, before introducing him to two investment companies. Trusting her, Mr. Chetan transferred a total of Rs 1.63 crore to another account in her RTGS payment mode in the month of December. Within a few days, he noticed that his investment was increasing and, excited by this, tried to withdraw his money, but was blocked. When he consulted companies, they advised him to pay taxes and other service charges in the hundreds of thousands in order to recoup his investment and profits. Worried, Chetan realized that he had been fooled and told his friend about his experience.

Similarly, Rajendra Kumar, a 39-year-old businessman from Shankarapuram, was introduced to online trading and invested in BlackRock Investments worth Rs 36.5 million in December. Within a month, he noticed that the total value of his account was Rs 4.5 crore. Excited by this, Rajendra Kumar tried to withdraw the amount but was unsuccessful. When he consulted the company, his representative told him to invest an additional 4 million rupees to access the investment account. He followed the instructions and lost this amount as well.

“These are just two of many lawsuits recently filed by victims of the same scheme. We urge investors to be careful with their money and invest in genuine, well-known stocks/ We urge people to invest only through forex trading apps,” a senior official said.