Delhi woman loses Rs 24 lakh: Beware of fake investment ads on social media
Fake ads luring victims into making investments "endorsed" by famous entrepreneurs or financial firms are becoming a big problem on social media. A 36-year-old woman from Delhi recently fell victim to one such scam while browsing Facebook.
While on Facebook, she found a link advertising stock market investments through Upstox Securities, a well-known trading app in India. Curious, she clicked on the link and was added to a WhatsApp group named "V5-VIP Upstox Services Group." According to an FIR she later filed, the group offered stock trading tips and eventually led her to a fraudulent application.
The group administrator, known as Rajat Upstox VIP, encouraged members to join a competition called GTC, promising attractive returns. Following the instructions, she joined a mobile app via a provided link and submitted her Aadhaar and PAN cards to activate her account. Between July 4 and July 17, 2024, she made 19 transactions totalling Rs 24,35,000 to 10 different accounts for shares and IPOs. The app showed her investments growing, convincing her to buy more stocks. However, when she wanted to sell her shares, they refused and insisted she take a loan instead.
The growing problem
Nidhi Sagar, a resident of North Pitampura, is now among a growing number of individuals deceived by such schemes, desperately hoping to recover their hard-earned money. Many fraudulent ads are found on Facebook and Instagram, operated by Meta.
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