Noida woman invests in stock market via an app, loses over Rs 69 lakh as it turns out to be a scam

Investing in the stock market is the go-to answer for many who want great returns on their hard-earned money. However, not everyone is a stock market expert and people tend to look for guidance at times. And while there are many good financial advisors out there, some are fraudsters looking for a way to rob people.

Thus, in times when online scams in India are on the rise, one should be cautious of who they trust with their money. Simply believing strangers on the internet could mean huge losses at times and this is exactly what happened with a Noida-based woman who wanted to make some extra money by investing in the share market via an app.

Woman loses over Rs 69 lakh in stock market scam

According to a report in HT, a 32-year-old woman from Greater Noida West was defrauded of more than Rs 69 lakh by scammers posing as stock market investment advisors. This incident, which unfolded over the course of several weeks, underscores the need for heightened vigilance and cybersecurity awareness in an increasingly interconnected society.

Stuti, the victim, resides with her family in Amaatra Homes, Sector 10. Her ordeal began in June when she was added to an unknown WhatsApp group that offered training on earning profits in the stock market. The group, which appeared to be legitimate, provided her with initial training sessions that built trust and credibility. The scammers, masquerading as financial experts, promised Stuti a staggering 300 percent return on investments made through a specially designed mobile application.

Scammers promised high returns

Encouraged by the initial promise of high returns, Stuti downloaded the fraudulent application and made her first investment of Rs 1 lakh. To her astonishment, the app showed a profit of Rs 50,000 the very next day, further enticing her to invest more. The scammers then added her and her husband to another private WhatsApp group, where they were presented with a new profit plan requiring an investment of Rs 30 lakh. Trusting the system, they invested Rs 20 lakh.

On July 16, the fraudsters introduced a new scheme involving an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and the allotment of one lakh shares. They asked the couple to invest an additional Rs 1.19 crore, promising a profit of Rs 50 lakh from their recent investments. The couple, now heavily invested both financially and emotionally, were then informed that they needed to pay an additional Rs 48 lakh to secure their profits.

When Stuti and her husband expressed their inability to invest further and requested to withdraw their profits, the scammers cited convoluted terms and conditions to refuse their request. Desperate to recoup their investments, the couple broke their fixed deposits, liquidated mutual funds, and borrowed money from friends and family, eventually sending a total of Rs 69.53 lakh to the fraudsters through multiple transactions.

It wasn't until the couple was asked to pay an additional Rs 21 lakh in taxes and other charges that they realised they had been duped. The scammers, who had promised them a profit of Rs 4 crore, vanished, leaving the couple in financial ruin. On August 2, an FIR was registered under sections 318 (cheating and dishonesty) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the BNS, along with relevant sections of the IT Act, at the cybercrime police station. The police have launched an investigation.