Ex-NRI loses Rs 6 crore to fake share market apps

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 30 (PTI) An ex-NRI who regularly traded online through the Zerodha platform was defrauded of nearly Rs 6 crore by a group of fraudsters, police said on Wednesday.


The scammers tricked the victim into installing a fake app, claiming it was linked to Zerodha and a bogus “Vijay Bajaj Contest Community.”

They added him to several trading groups and directed him to download and log in to this fake app.

Once he was onboard, the fraudsters asked him to deposit large sums into different accounts under various names, supposedly for trading in multiple companies.

They convinced him with fake profit displays, gaining his trust.

However, when he attempted to withdraw the profits, they demanded an additional 20 per cent of the profit amount as a deposit.

This raised the victim’s suspicion, prompting him to contact the cyber crime police station, where he filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

Over about a month, he had lost over Rs 6 crore, the Thiruvananthapuram city police deputy commissioner (Law and Order) said in a release.

The complainant, who had a long IT career abroad and retired two years ago, began online trading after returning to India.

He had visited several trading-related websites, making him a target for the fraudsters.

Fake versions of well-known trading platforms are tricking many people, leading to significant financial losses, police said.

Police advise the public to only download apps from the official Play Store and avoid unverified links from social media.

Victims of such scams are urged to file complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal by calling 1930 or visiting www.cybercrime.gov.in, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)