Beware of fake sites, strange groups, pig butchering scams! the gang’s actions are scary

New Delhi: When a 32-year-old woman was added to the Telegram channel in January this year, she was impressed by its content. Group members regularly posted about their ‘daily returns’. There was a ‘Guru’ among them who used to share stock tips along with study material and booklets to ‘study’ the stock market. Inspired by this, the woman also started investing or at least she thought she was. With an amount of a few hundred rupees, his ‘portfolio’ soon touched six figures and the dashboard also showed good returns. His deposits were reaching around Rs 25 lakh. Then suddenly something happened that his entire investment was lost. The woman was suddenly left in the lurch by her ‘advisers’. Finally he had to contact the police in March.

This is how ‘pig butchering’ happens

The 32-year-old woman was not alone. There were at least 200 more members in this group, with whom something similar happened. Most of them wanted to invest, but became the latest victims in a series of ‘pig butchering’ scams running in the city. This is being done through Telegram, Instagram and WhatsApp groups. The modus operandi of its fraud is quite simple. Scammers attract potential targets with promises of good returns. First they increase the expectations of those people and then after some time they empty their accounts.

Many cases came to Delhi Police

In the last one year, Delhi Police took strict action against those committing such frauds. The police have arrested more than 100 such ‘investment scammers’ through simple tactics of luring the victims. However, such cases are continuously increasing. Such games are being played through fake websites, dubious groups and fake stock investment apps. The scammers seem to be organized with a lot of infrastructure.
The operator has the technical resources to create and run fake websites and apps. Also, people sending messages are also included in the contact list purchased on the dark web.

These groups trap those who have interest in the stock market

A senior police officer of Cyber ​​​​Cell said that such fraudsters track people interested in the stock market with the help of marketing tools. Then they contact them posing as representatives of reputed firms. Initially, they provide free stock advice on how to earn quick and high returns. During this, many types of tricks are adopted to trap the prey. Such as offering free training, fake foolproof trading systems. This includes pressurizing new people to invest more or promising unrealistic returns.

First you win trust and then you get betrayed.

The police officer said that to win the trust of the victim, people of such groups often trap people by giving references to their ‘personal experiences’. He would message that we saw how the stocks suggested to him achieved 10 to 20 percent profit in a very short time. I started making profit with every trade. The predictions made by him were almost correct every time. Or ‘At discount rates, I made double the profit.’ An officer said that every gang member has a role, be it ‘fund advisor’, ‘technical expert’ or ‘stock manager’. In many cases, agents present themselves as advisors to reputed banks like HDFC, SBI and ICICI.

Police made special appeal to the people

According to the police, in such cases these groups appeal for investment phase wise only. Members of this gang often show success stories in the group by showing ‘investment’ figures showing good returns. They publicly congratulate their victims for their ‘big win’, but once the money arrives and the victim asks for a withdrawal, the crooks are done playing. Start giving fake trading records or bad signals. Meanwhile, using high pressure sales tactics, they force investors to deposit more money or make larger trades. Additionally, they create hassles with withdrawals or cite technical issues, making it challenging for people to access their funds.

A small mistake can cause huge loss

Such gangs operate on unregulated platforms to manipulate investors into achieving false profits or losses before defrauding them. Telegram and Instagram are full of such channels where fraudsters lay traps to lure users. In the hope of making a quick buck, housewives and retired people become the easiest targets. Issuing a warning against linking to unverified channels, the police have urged people to trust trusted names rather than such entities. The official said the important thing is to first identify the contact person. It should be ascertained where their office is located. According to police officials, verification should be done before the user can deposit even a single rupee. This is because this is how ‘pig butchering’ is done.