Scammers dupe people with ”investment” bait

Fraudsters are cashing on the greed of people and luring them with various lucrative offers. Officials say the money people are losing with cybercrime is comparatively more than the regular crimes.

Hyderabad: Though there is a decrease in traditional crimes, cybercrimes instances are steadily increasing with ‘investment fraud’ being the latest modus operandi used by cyber crooks.

Fraudsters are cashing on the greed of people and luring them with various lucrative offers. Officials say the money people are losing with cybercrime is comparatively more than the regular crimes.

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The cybercrime officials have observed that in all investment frauds, the fraudsters capitalise on the greed among people, mostly youngsters, job aspirants, IT employees and homemakers, to earn quick and easy bucks.

“The fraudsters weave magic with their promises of big and quick money and that too in an easy way to convince a victim. Once they collect money from the victims, they go absconding,” said a senior cybercrime official from Hyderabad.

Usually fraudsters approach people with a few popular schemes, which include investments in reputed companies offering 10- 20 percent high returns, investments on real estate, bitcoins and of course, share market investments.

“They call the targeted people with offers to invest in franchises of reputed firms or on gold stocks. They collect money and then switch off phones,” the official said.
The Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda police have been taking petitions from citizens cheated in cybercrime frauds, at all local police stations. Complaints filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) are also being diverted to the local police for investigation.

Cybercrime officials request citizens to immediately report cyber frauds online at cybercrimes.gov.in (National Cybercrime Reporting Portal) for quick legal action and also to block the flow of money to the fraudsters after the fraud. Cybercrime can also be reported to the Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) on Dial 1930 or https://cybercrime.gov.in.

Advisory:

*Share trading investors should be more vigilant before paying for any investment

*Investor should visit the Investment Advisor office in person
* They should make payments only after satisfying with the terms and conditions

* Investor should go through reviews about the companies before investing
*They should verify with the registered reputed share trading companies

* On being suspicious, call 1930 within the golden hour.
* Never share your bank or card details over the phone with anyone.

*Verify the identity of anyone asking you to open an account and monitor your account activity.