Pune man loses ₹2 crore to fake investment scam – what it is and how to protect yourself

• A man from Pune has reportedly lost ₹2.1 crore to a fake investment scam.
• The victim reportedly joined an investment group after noticing an advertisement on a social media platform.
• The invested amount includes a loan of ₹70 lakh and proceeds from sale of property.

In yet another online scam, a Pune man reportedly lost a huge amount in a new fake investment scam. A 45-year-old clinical researcher has reportedly lost ₹2.1 crore over the span of a month.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the victim fell prey to a fake investment scam, where the scammers used the name of a well-known US-based venture capital fund to deceive the victim.

The victim has registered a complaint with the Wakad police station in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune.
What is the fake investment scam?
The victim started investing in the stock market in 2023 as he was working from home. In November 2023, the victim came across an advertisement on a social media platform.

In this advertisement, a share market investment platform was advertised and the name of a well-known venture capital firm based out of the US was mentioned alongside.

The platform offered online tutorials for share market investment and promised to help the victim build a good investment portfolio.

When he clicked the ad, the victim was redirected to a WhatsApp group, which he joined. The admins of the group then shared online tutorials and guides for investment. The members were also encouraged to join the company’s platform for investment.

The victim was then directed to download an application on their phone and then asked to make large investments on the application.

Over the next few weeks, the victim reportedly transferred ₹2.15 crore to the platform to make investments. This includes money received from sale of property and loans worth ₹70 lakh taken for investments.

The victim was then reportedly asked to invest an additional ₹4.33 crore in an initial public offering (IPO) of an oil company. When the victim was unable to do so, he was informed that his initial investment had been frozen.

The victim then tried to call the numbers that he had communicated with on WhatsApp, but was unable to do so. Upon further investigation, he found that the platform had no connection to the venture capital fund.

Upon realising this, the victim approached the police, who found the fraudsters had created fake social media profiles to scam the victim.

Initial investigation has revealed that the fraudulent accounts are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, Rajasthan and Telangana.
How to protect yourself from such scams
Here are some ways you can protect yourself from such scams –

• Do not click on investment advertisements you see on social media or other websites. If possible, report them to the platform.
• Do not join groups on social media platforms if you do not know the person or the organisation running it.
• Avoid dealing with unknown platforms offering high return on investments.
• Use well-known and reliable platforms to invest in the stock market.
• Do not invest in unknown platforms without proper verification.

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