Kolkata Man Loses Rs 20 Lakh in Online Investment Scam Seeking Higher Returns
Online scams have undeniably permeated the fabric of the Internet, and this is a growing concern as users not only increasingly rely on online services for basic tasks, but also integrate them into learning and skill development. However, scammers are constantly developing new ways to scam people, whether they are unsuspecting newcomers looking for work or looking to earn extra income.
Now in a recent incident Sandeep Sarkar from Kolkata fell victim to an online stock trading scam and lost a whopping Rs 20,000. Unaware of the looming financial loss, he joined an online group that promised tips on how to improve e-commerce, only to find a significant financial setback, as reported by The Indian Express.
According to the police, both the 58-year-old man and his 27-year-old son are cancer patients and had decided to invest in stocks to get a better pension for treatment. They invested regularly through his demat account.
“In December, I came across a link on Facebook that invited people to participate in a free online stock trading course. I attended the course to learn new things and then the organizers added me to the WhatsApp group. I was even given a certificate for attending the course, which I later realized was fake, Sarkar said.
He added, “The organizers of the webinar added me to a WhatsApp group where I would get suggestions on stocks that were doing well in the market. I also saw other members share their experiences from the group. The organizers soon suggested that if we invested through an institutional trading platform, we would benefit more.”
The scammers later divided the group participants into a group of 6, calling it the “Unified Organizational Trading Plan” joint venture, and asked users to use the online platform “Zoksa” to invest. “They suggested that we should sell off all our policies and stocks we were investing in and then invest through them…. At that time my Zoksa account showed that my money was invested in US stocks and my investments had reached Rs 1 crore. So I continued to invest through the company” , Sarkar said.
Things turned sour when Sarkar tried to withdraw his investment. He tried but failed and finally made a request to the group. The scammers ended up paying him just Rs 10,000, which made him suspicious. He was later told that he would have to pay 13,000 rupees in taxes in order to withdraw his money and get a tax certificate.
This made him realize what had happened and he finally filed a complaint on February 9th.
Police are warning everyone and said users should understand that no established company would operate through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. If someone adds them to such groups, they should leave it immediately just to be safe.
