Online Investment Scams

1. What are Investment Scams?

Online investment scams are a type of cyber fraud where scammers convince you to invest in a bogus company / scheme or download a fake investment app.

You never get any returns on your investment, and scammers will disppear once they get their money.

2. Real-Life Story

A woman in Pune downloaded a fake investment app. Scammers convinced her to put in large amounts of money.

The app showed her profits as six times higher than investments, but she couldn’t withdraw the money.

The woman ended up losing 3.04 crores to the scam!

3. Victims are made to feel

✅ FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
✅ Hopeful of high returns
✅ Out of their depth, so they can't ask questions
✅ False sense of authenticity

4. Our Secret Tips

✅ Research: Never invest money without thoroughly researching the company, the app, etc.
✅ Scrutinise: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
✅ Be cautious: Invest a little money at a time, and check how much you profit.

5. Cyber law in action

Sections of the IPC that may apply:
✅ Section 405: Criminal breach of trust
✅ Section 415: Cheating
✅ Section 420: Cheating & dishonestly inducing delivery of property
✅ Section 416: Cheating by personation
✅ Section 468: Forgery for the purpose of cheating