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Stock market trading is something that needs expert guidance and has its own set of risks associated. This is why, people generally consult experts before investing in stocks. However, one needs to be careful who they are seeking advice from when it comes to financial matters. In a recent case, a 63-year-old man from Hyderabad lost Rs 50 lakh after falling for a fraudulent stock trading scheme shared through a <keyword id="790242" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp" source="Orion">WhatsApp</keyword> group. This is just one example of how fraudsters are increasingly using messaging platforms to lure in victims with false promises of easy profits. <h2>How the scam unfolded </h2> The scam began when the victim received an invitation to join a WhatsApp group called Stock Discussion Group. According to a Times Now report, the group was led by a man named <keyword id="23828130" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kunal-singh" source="keywords">Kunal Singh</keyword>, who introduced himself as a financial advisor with extensive experience in the stock market. Singh claimed that his past clients had earned significant profits, boasting of returns as high as 500% by following his stock trading advice. Intrigued by these promises, the victim enrolled in online classes that were promoted within the group. These sessions, held through private links shared on WhatsApp, promised to teach participants how to make money by investing in the stock market. Singh continued to assure group members that his expertise would guide them to financial success. The victim, trusting his guidance, began to invest small amounts of money on a platform called Skyrim Capital, which Singh claimed was a legitimate trading platform. At first, the victim saw some returns on his investment, which only encouraged him to invest more. The initial success built his confidence, and over time, he transferred a total of Rs 50 lakh into multiple investments, believing that he was making wise financial decisions. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw his funds, he was unable to do so. The platform blocked his attempts, and when he tried to contact Singh, he received no response. The truth behind the scam The victim soon realised that he had been scammed. The platform, Skyrim Capital, turned out to be nothing more than a front for fraudulent activity, and Singh had disappeared with the man’s money. The scam had been carefully designed to build trust initially, only to betray the victim when he tried to cash out. The fraudsters used the lure of high returns and expert advice to convince the victim to keep investing larger sums, ultimately draining his finances. This scam is just one of many that have been reported in India, with cybercriminals exploiting the convenience and popularity of platforms like WhatsApp to reach potential victims. These scams often rely on false promises and fake personas, with fraudsters creating elaborate stories to convince their targets that they are legitimate financial advisors.

63-year-old Hyderabad man loses ₹50 lakh after joining WhatsApp group for stock market investment advice

In the last two years, there has been a rapid rise in scams in India and a lot of people have lost their hard-earned money after trusting strangers for financial advice. Be it a fraudulent app, being added to a shady WhatsApp group, or receiving phone calls from strangers that sound too good to be true, many cases have come to light. Now, in a new incident, a doctor from Thane, Maharashtra, was misled by three Karnataka-based suspects who promised earnings via a municipal contract to supply medical equipment, costing him ₹3.84 crore. Despite investing over a three-year period, he saw no returns and reported the crime to the Naupada police, who have registered a case but made no arrests. Thane doctor tricked by false municipal contract According to a PTI report, a 39-year-old doctor in Thane, Maharashtra was deceived by three men from Karnataka. These fraudsters offered him lucrative returns through a supposed municipal contract for supplying medical equipment. Convinced by the promise of reliable profits, the doctor began investing heavily in December 2020, making significant contributions until March this year. The doctor’s substantial investment – totalling ₹3.84 crore – was made over multiple transactions from December 2020 and March this year, in anticipation of high returns that never materialised. Suspicion finally arose after the doctor had seen no profits despite his repeated investments. Recognising he may have been defrauded, he reached out to the Naupada police station, who registered a case under charges of cheating. While no arrests have been made so far, authorities have launched an investigation to track down the perpetrators and recover the funds if possible. A police official told PTI, "The man approached police after he did not get profits or any return on investment. We have registered a case of cheating but have not arrested anyone." Ahmedabad gynaecologist duped in <keyword id="21361161" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="stock-market-scam" source="keywords">stock market scam</keyword> In a similar incident, a gynaecologist from Ahmedabad lost ₹1.1 crore to a scam that began with a social media advertisement. Attracted by the potential for substantial stock market returns, the doctor engaged with a group promising expert tips and was subsequently added to a WhatsApp group where members shared investment insights. Through this group, he was introduced to a web link for stock and IPO investments, along with an application that required his banking details and identification documents. A PTI report revealed that the doctor’s initial investment of ₹50,000 yielded a profit of ₹10,000, which he successfully withdrew. This initial success encouraged him to make larger investments, transferring ₹1.1 crore through multiple transactions in pursuit of higher gains. When he later attempted to withdraw his funds, he was unexpectedly asked to pay 20% of his total profits. After refusing this demand, he was removed from the WhatsApp group and realised the extent of the deception. He contacted Cybercrime police in February, and after months of waiting, a formal case was registered against unknown suspects under charges of breach of trust and cheating, alongside provisions of the <keyword id="20003647" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="information-technology-act" source="keywords">Information Technology Act</keyword>.

Thane doctor gets cheated of ₹3.84 crore, was promised high financial returns by 3 men

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The biggest money managers on Wall Street are shedding billions in stocks for this one tax strategy.</li><li>Tax-loss harvesting allows investors to offset capital gains taxes by selling securities at a loss.</li></ul>It's officially stock-selling season, according to Bank of America.Institutional investors usually increase their selling activity towards the end of the year, and this year was no exception. Bank of America's clients alone sold $1.3 billion in US equities last week. The bank reported that institutional selling activity was 80% higher this October than the historical average.What's the reason behind these elevated levels of security selling? The answer is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tax-savings-strategy-offset-gains-income-loss-harvesting-morgan-stanley-2024-10">tax-loss harvesting</a>.Tax-loss harvesting has long been a strategy of Wall Street and the wealthy to reduce their tax bills. They do this by selling underperforming investments for a loss to offset capital gains taxes on other investments sold at a profit. As a result, taxes are only paid on the net profit.You can replicate this strategy in your own portfolio, too. Below are some tips and tricks on how to use it to reduce your taxes, according to Jere Doyle, estate planning strategist at BNY Wealth.<h2 id="68a94438-775f-431a-954e-0e5b2d8dcb75">How tax-loss harvesting works</h2>Investors might look to rebalance some portfolio positions as the end of the year approaches. For example, after this year's incredible runup in tech stocks, some investors might be looking to sell their positions to realize their gains and diversify their holdings.That's where tax-loss harvesting comes in. If you're selling Nvidia stock with a $10,000 gain, you can pair that with a sale of another asset with a $10,000 loss to avoid paying capital gains taxes.You can also front-load your losses, according to Doyle. If you sell one asset at a $10,000 gain and another at a $15,000 loss, you can use up to $3,000 of the loss to offset other ordinary income — and carry forward the remaining $2,000 to subsequent years.Tax-loss harvesting can be especially advantageous in today's environment, according to Doyle.The market has been experiencing heightened volatility from factors such as mega-cap earnings and the election.This environment creates big winners and losers, giving investors plenty of opportunity to recognize losses. Investors shouldn't be scared of pullbacks in a volatile market. Instead, take advantage of price dips in the market to sell losing securities and lower your tax bill.<h2 id="c83964ce-4da2-4126-a044-a3769347944b">Tax-loss harvesting tips and tricks</h2>There are a few things to consider before using a tax-loss harvesting strategy.First, investors should be aware of the wash-sale rule. The wash-sale rule states that if you sell a security at a loss and buy the same or "substantially identical" security in a 30-day timeframe before or after the sale, you cannot use the loss for income tax purposes.Sometimes, people forget about this rule. "They made the mistake of repurchasing those same assets within that 61-day period, and they lose the deductibility of loss," Doyle said.If you want to sell a security at a loss but still want exposure to a specific area of the market, you can use the proceeds of the sale to purchase a similar, but not substantially identical, asset. However, the IRS hasn't provided a clear definition of what constitutes a substantially identical asset, so investors should approach this with caution. Or, you could double down on the asset more than 30 days before selling at a loss.Another piece of advice Doyle: try to match your gains and losses.It might be tempting to record a larger loss than gain to carry it over in subsequent years, but it might not be worth taking the loss if you don't plan to use it for tax-harvesting purposes in the near future."Given the time value of money, those long-term capital gain losses lose their value over a period of time," Doyle said. A $2,000 loss today will be worth less carried over many years in the future — in that case, it would be more advantageous to just record the loss in the future. In other words, don't incur excessive losses today just to be able to use them in the future.Lastly, Doyle recommends thinking through this strategy carefully to make sure it's a good fit for your current portfolio."From an investment point of view, it may not make sense. Maybe the securities you have at a loss are going to bounce back later on. Maybe the securities you're selling at a gain have future appreciation left," Doyle said.Investors should keep in mind that tax-loss harvesting isn't a one-size-fits-all strategy — but if you do have gains and the losses to offset them, the end of the tax year might be a good time to think about implementing this plan.

Bank of America's clients are selling stocks 80% more than normal to use this strategy that allows you to avoid capital gains taxes on big returns

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Investors boosted stocks after Donald Trump won a second term.</li><li>But investors shouldn't depart from their long-term investing plan, Morningstar's Dave Sekera says.</li></ul>Investors had a field day on Wednesday, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-election-win-stock-market-today-record-high-sp500-dow-2024-11">plowing money into the stock market</a> following the news that former president Donald Trump had won a second term. The S&amp;P 500 rose 2.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up a whopping 3.5%.But even as prices soar, it's important not to get caught up in the mania beyond your normal risk tolerance, warns Morningstar Senior US Market Strategist Dave Sekera."Don't let any of these dire headlines that you may see here in the short term dissuade you from your long-term investment objectives," Sekera said in a webinar on Wednesday morning."Based on your risk tolerance, I probably wouldn't be making any changes here today," he continued. "And when you do make changes, make sure that you're only making changes when there's really a change in your underlying fundamentals and only make changes in your portfolio based on an informed analysis."While not letting near-term developments derail your plan for your portfolio is classic advice, Sekera said there's another reason to be extra cautious: stock valuations are at some of their most expensive levels in the last decade-and-a-half."When I look at the market today, it is trading, with today's bump, probably a 3% to 4% premium above fair value," he said. "Now, a lot of investors may say, 'Eh, 3% to 4% doesn't sound like that much from a market point of view,' but when I look at our valuations going back to 2010, less than 20% of the time have we seen the market trade at this much of a premium or more."While Morningstar has its own proprietary valuation measures, common metrics show the S&amp;P 500 is indeed expensive. Below is the Shiller cyclically-adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, for example. It's a 10-year rolling average of the market's trailing 12-month PE ratio.<div type="image" title="shiller cape ratio" height="943" width="1242" msid="115062287" hostid="261" sizebytes="44672"></div>These valuation levels have prompted some <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-why-sp500-decade-weak-returns-goldman-jpmorgan-2024-11">top investment banks</a>, including Goldman Sachs, to warn of relatively poor returns in the coming decade.At the same time, investors are probably right to be excited about the prospect of lower taxes and regulation, Sekera said. Even what some investors may view as negatives, like tariffs and the potential inflation that could result from them, may end up being a boon for stocks, he said."From the stock point of view, for those companies that have pricing power, that actually could end up helping them generate some additional earnings growth," he said.If Republicans end up taking a majority in the House of Representatives alongside their victory in the Senate and the White House, bullishness around more tax cuts may especially be well founded, according to Sekera.Still, markets are unpredictable, and investors shouldn't overreact to events like elections, as there are many variables at play beyond who is in political power — like starting valuations. Sekera pointed to a recent article from his colleague John Rekenthaler, where he highlighted that oil stocks have done much better under President Joe Biden than they did during Trump's first term, despite their differing attitudes toward the fossil fuel industry.That's again why Sekera is urging restraint, with the market being expensive. That is particularly true for growth stocks, which trade at a "very large premium," he said.Value stocks and small-caps are where Sekera sees the most opportunity — especially in the latter."The small-cap space, even with today's bump, it's still the most undervalued part of the market in our view," he said.

Why you shouldn't get caught up in the post-election stock-market frenzy: Morningstar

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The stock market is in a great spot for investors to jump in, Ed Yardeni says.</li><li>The market vet still thinks stocks are in the midst of a long-term bull market that could last through 2030.</li></ul>The latest pullback in stocks could represent a big "buy" signal for investors, according to market veteran Ed Yardeni.The Yardeni Research president pointed to the latest pullback in stocks, with the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-today-economic-data-inflation-pmi-nvidia-earnings-2024-5?_gl=1*1qvv09d*_ga*OTI1ODIwOTQ2LjE3MTYzOTg2NjU.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTcxNjU2MzMzMy4xMC4xLjE3MTY1NjM0NTEuNjAuMC4w">Dow plunging over 600 points on Thursday</a> after services and manufacturing data pointed to more inflation pressures. That's fueled fresh fears of interest rates remaining high. But stocks are still in a longer-term uptrend, meaning the pullback could be a fresh opportunity for investors who have been waiting on the sidelines, Yardeni said."My advice to people who have been investing in the market is to stay with it," he told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRGek0Rfyl8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a> on Thursday. "All in all, I'm kind of anticipating the US economy is going to continue to do well …. I think all the stocks that are being sold today are probably the ones that are going to make a comeback, and maybe this is a short-term opportunity to hop aboard what I think is a long-term bull market."While inflation remains above the Fed's 2% target, the economy overall is strong, with GDP continuing to grow and unemployment at historic lows. Consumers have pulled back on goods spending, but they're spending more money on services, which is propping up the economy, Yardeni noted."All in all, I think we're looking at an economy that remains remarkably resilient. And while everybody's coming to the conclusion that we're going to have higher-for-longer interest because that's what Fed officials are signaling, I view it as 'normal for longer' … We've done fine at these levels of interest rates, as has the stock market," Yardeni said.Yardeni has been making the case for months that stocks are still in a long-term bull market and could soar through the rest of the decade. Recently, he's predicted that the S&amp;P 500 will climb as much as 50% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average could hit 60,000 by 2030.

There's a 'buy' signal flashing for investors in the stock market right now as the long-term bull market pushes on, market vet says

George Wilson learned the hard way that there's no such thing as a free lunch — or, in his case, a free dinner that cost him a chunk of his retirement savings.As a retiree, he regularly received postcards in the mail, offering to teach him about finance and how to make money in retirement. They usually involved a presentation at a nice restaurant, and he would go without acting on any of the investment advice.But on one occasion, Wilson did take the bait after a brochure he received in 2010 inviting him to an evening at Ruth's Chris Steak House ended up costing him $158,000."It was a very good restaurant. And so, of course, it caught my attention," Wilson said in an interview.At that fateful dinner, he enjoyed his favorite top sirloin steak, asparagus tips, and a "fabulous" chocolate cake. He also met David Escarcega, one of the hosts and a broker who would eventually advise him to invest in so-called non-correlated, fixed-income alternative products from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.investmentnews.com/alternatives/gwg-holdings-files-for-bankruptcy/220355">now-bankrupt firm GWG</a>.Years later, Wilson is still fighting to regain what he lost from that investment. An arbitration decision recently awarded him $267,252 in compensation, including emotional distress damages from the last broker who facilitated the transaction. But the respondent only paid approximately $103,363.40 toward sanctions and the award. After costs, Mr. Wilson will end up with almost no payout, according to his attorney.Fancy restaurants with presentations are a common practice in the industry, says financial planner Michael Murray, adding that there are services that provide mailing lists of people with a certain net worth, and retirees are often on them because it's where wealth tends to be concentrated.But those meals aren't really free, Murray said. They're predominantly set up to sell high-commission products. In GWG's case, brokers earned up to 8% in commissions. What advisors can earn from one of these events pays for the meals and more. Picture a scenario where an advisor signs up $500,000 worth of investments with an 8% commission rate; that's a $40,000 payout. The math is very favorable for those who do this regularly, he added.Meanwhile, invitees feel like the hosts have done something nice for them and there's an implication that they should do something back, Murray noted. "So I think certain people will go to these dinner seminars and almost feel an obligation to work with someone."They're referred to as "free lunch seminars," said Adam Gana, a securities attorney who worked on Wilson's case. They're common in the industry. But Gana says that when brokerage firms offer them, he tells clients to run the other way."We see them all the time," Gana said. "I've represented 3,000 investors over the last 15 years, and in so many of those instances when we're dealing with a horrific product, a non-traded product, a product that's just terrible for investors, it usually starts with a free lunch."<h2 id="74285f86-a363-43ff-b132-9ec411f82f14">Risky business</h2>After the dinner, Wilson and his ex-wife Jean followed up with Escarcega at his office to discuss alternative investment options."We sat down with him, and he went through various opportunities that he could present to us, and we asked for several," Wilson said. "And the one that seemed the most attractive and that he extolled the virtues of the most was GWG. And so we thought about it for several weeks and went back and forth and then ultimately decided to do it."The products were non-publicly traded so-called LifeNotes, high-yield debt securities that paid a 9% monthly interest rate by GWG Holdings, according to documents viewed by Insider. They were based on life insurance policies purchased on the secondary market, with the expectation that death benefits would be paid to GWG's bondholders when the insured died. One brochure, viewed by Insider, advertised them as a "secured investment backed by a large portfolio of high-quality life insurance policies""Escarcega had pitched them as a safer alternative to the volatile stock market that could provide steady dividend payouts while preserving the principal investments, Wilson said."Of course, we want to leave our equity to our children but have some kind of income coming from it while we're still here," Wilson said. "And so that was very attractive to us, that we preserve our equity."Wilson initially purchased $180,000 worth of the notes using funds from his IRA, according to documents viewed by Insider. He later reduced his investment to $158,000 and flipped it to GWG preferred stock. For the next few years, things were looking good. Wilson received payouts monthly. In 2017, he decided to renew his investment, according to documents viewed by Insider.What he didn't know was that by then, Escarcega had been barred from selling securities after misrepresenting investment risks, according to FINRA. So Escarcega used his brother Adrian's license to submit the transactions through AGES Financial Services, according to arbitration documents from Wilson's attorneys. The Escarcegas could not be reached for comment.It was one of many details Wilson wasn't aware of. Thus far, the payouts had always been timely, he said. So, there was no reason to suspect there were problems. But there were. GWG's balance sheet wasn't adding up. FINRA had determined that it hadn't been profitable in over a decade. The firm had been selling new bonds to pay dividends to existing bondholders. The underlying collateral wasn't generating an income and multiple accounting firms refused to audit it, according to the amended statement of claim.The doom loop would eventually come to a screeching halt due to GWG's accounting issues, an SEC investigation, and failure to file its annual SEC report. By 2021, it could no longer sell bonds which led to its bankruptcy by 2022 and the halting of dividend payments, according to the amended statement of claim.Craig McCann, a consultant providing expert testimony in investment cases, including this one, said that GWG's insurance contracts were being overvalued on its balance sheet and the firm was assuming that people would die earlier. As a result, they estimated receiving the death benefits sooner. Simply put, there were not enough benefits being paid on the insurance contracts to cover the interest and principal due."There were lots of signals," McCann said. "There were lots of problems with their SEC filings and lots of reasons to believe that it was imminently going to happen, but most investors were very unsophisticated investors."In 2019, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.investmentnews.com/alternatives/clients-win-another-gwg-bond-claim-this-time-against-b-d/245442">AGES had ended its relationship with GWG</a> due to a change in the company's business model, according to the firm. But Wilson says he was not informed by the firm, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.investmentnews.com/fixed-income/investors-claiming-emotional-distress-damages-win-lawsuit-involving-gwg-bonds/257068">preventing him from selling his shares in time</a> (AGES disputes this). An arbitration panel found that the investment scheme was so egregious that they awarded him $267,252.00 in compensation that included emotional distress damages, according to the order. AGES paid $103,000 for all claimants.<h2 id="9e594bc3-8860-404f-8b63-aeb5d0906705">Risk reward</h2>Wilson's situation is a cautionary tale. He used his IRA to make the investment, so he's also faced with a required minimum distribution, which includes the amount invested in GWG even though it's nominal. He told Insider he must withdraw from other investments to meet the minimum.His case isn't an isolated one. There may have been thousands of brokers selling GWG bonds, based on data pulled from ADV filings as reported by McCann. Wilson says he lives with the guilt of advising his ex-wife and a friend who also invested in the bonds and lost their principal.Truth be told, it's difficult for the average retiree who is not financially savvy to understand the mechanics of many of these alternative investments, even when there are red flags, Murray said. Non-publicly traded investments take time to build capital before generating free cash flow. For those with lower cash reserves, they don't make much sense because they lack liquidity, he added.But Murray also emphasized that not all alternative investments are bad. He just thinks that if you're considering them, you must be financially savvy and have the ability to dig into offering statements, look at fee structures, and related party transactions. Even then, investors should resort to a second opinion from a fiduciary advisor, a CPA, or an attorney.Finally, understand that risk and reward are always tied together. Outsized promises of yields that are much higher than, say, the 10-Year Treasury is a red flag and means there's elevated risk, Murray said.

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63-year-old Hyderabad man loses ₹50 lakh after joining WhatsApp group for stock market investment advice

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Thane doctor gets cheated of ₹3.84 crore, was promised high financial returns by 3 men

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Bank of America's clients are selling stocks 80% more than normal to use this strategy that allows you to avoid capital gains taxes on big returns

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Why you shouldn't get caught up in the post-election stock-market frenzy: Morningstar

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There's a 'buy' signal flashing for investors in the stock market right now as the long-term bull market pushes on, market vet says

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How a free meal cost an investor his retirement savings

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