Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cyber fraudsters targeted the people of the city on the pretext of share trading, investments in the share market and Forex trading in 2023, and 99 cases pertaining to such frauds were reported at the district cyber cell. The people lost Rs 4 crore to the crooks, the officials at the district cyber crime cell said.
As per the officials’ claims, the frauds on the pretext of share trading, investments in the share market and Forex trading accounted for almost 78% of all the cyber crimes reported last year. A total of 126 cyber crime cases were reported at the cyber cell, of which 99 were executed on the said pretext. The biggest of such incidents was reported in December 2023, in which a man residing in Arera colony locality of the city ended up losing Rs 60 lakh to cyber crooks.
The modus operandi
Cyber cell officials aware of the modus operandi of the crooks told Free Press that they often create a share trading website under the garb of any reputed company’s name. They then add target persons to groups on several social media applications, and offer to purchase the shares of the company, promising at least 35% return. Some of them even guaranteed double and triple return of the amount invested. They claim to deal in crypto-currencies, as well as the trade of international currencies like Pounds, Dollars, Dirhams, Euros etc. The victims believe such platforms to be true, which are actually given an authentic appearance by the cyber crooks. On the fake website, the victims are able to track the status of their investment, which looks lucrative. The investors are told that they will be able to withdraw money after a certain period only, after which the crooks close the website and go on the lam. Their phone numbers also turn unreachable.
Verify before investing: ACP (Cyber cell)
Assistant commissioner of police (Cyber cell), Sujeet Tiwari advised not to invest one’s hard-earned money merely when an unidentified/unknown person approaches them. If a person purchases shares of a company, he must track its status on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as well as the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The BSE and NSE send messages to the customers on a daily basis, and with the help of this, the people can avoid falling into the net of the cyber crooks.
