It was early Sunday morning when I received a phone call. I was fast asleep after a late weekend night, but I felt a familiar sense of worry and answered the call without checking the caller’s name. On the line was a young woman from a nearby town in Tamil Nadu, seeking guidance about an investment she had made. I asked if we could speak later, around 9 AM, she insisted on talking immediately. There was a clear distress in her voice. Wanting to continue the conversation without disturbing my family, I quietly stepped into another room.
She needed guidance urgently. She explained that she had already deposited some money into an account and was now being told to deposit more or her account would be frozen. I wanted to understand her situation better.
She told that she was approached by a person (I will call fraudster) who pretended to be from NSE and had shared URL (https://www.nse898.xyz/) of his website. When you open this site, Google gives a warning that it is a dangerous web site. The URL is without “.com” and “.in” extension and with digits in the name. This should be a clear warning sign.
To make the scheme look legitimate, the fraudster had sent her the LinkedIn profile of an actual Company Secretary from SEBI. While the profile was genuine, the person behind the messages was not. When I asked if she had verified the identity by connecting directly with the individual on LinkedIn, she said she had not.
She told me that these people reached out to her through Telegram app and had offered her role of reviewing the website in exchange for commission. She was required to deposit a small sum at first, after which she would start earning. The Telegram group consisted of four members, including one who pretended to be an existing customer and spoke highly of the offer.
She fell for the trap. They had her register on a basic website branded with the NSE logo that displayed a fabricated account, balance, and commissions. To build trust, they even refunded a small amount initially.
Recently, they demanded a larger deposit which she could not afford. They claimed her account had been frozen and pressured her to pay the remaining sum quickly to avoid damaging her supposed credit rating. This was the reason for her call.
When I asked whether she had the phone numbers of any of these individuals, she did not. All communication happened solely through Telegram, another major warning sign.
Over time, she had deposited ₹30,000, ₹50,000, ₹80,000, and ₹12,000 totalling ₹1.72 lakh. This was her hard earned savings. She wanted to surprise her husband with a gift and pay off her education loan, so she had not told him until the previous day, when he filed a cyber complaint.
I told her that this was a financial fraud. She has to stop transferring any more money. I asked her to take support of her husband in any new activity around this. I shared with her the National Cybercrime Helpline Number 1930 and the government cyber crime website https://cybercrime.gov.in/.
Towards the end of the call, I heard her break down, realizing that her hard-earned money was unlikely to be recovered and wondering whether all of this could have been avoided. I felt her pain, but the only comfort I could offer her was that she still had a long life ahead and she can make up for this loss and much more.
It was a classic case of a fraudster targeting a partially aware, digitally connected vulnerable individual.
Key Learnings
- In a world with limited job opportunities and rising unemployment, fraud has become a lucrative business, with criminals trained to target hardworking yet vulnerable people. Stay alert and never let your guard down.
- Before investing even a single rupee, validate it with family, friends, or trusted contacts. Never make decisions in isolation.
- There is plenty of publicly available information on avoiding such scams. Educate yourself.
- Be cautious. Never click unfamiliar links, install unknown software, or share OTPs.
RBI Kehta Hai – Jaankaar baniye, satark rahiye! (RBI Says – Be knowledgeable, stay alert!).
Note: These details may not be entirely precise, as they are based on a single conversation I had with her on a poor communication line.
Disclaimer
The writer is a SEBI Registered Adviser and Founder of FinMyn (https://finmyn.com). He provides Fee-Only Financial Planning and Investment Advisory services.
He has advised many clients in India, the US, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia.
To know more about him, click on https://finmyn.com/about/.