WhatsApp Trading Scam:-In this incident, scammers added the victim to a WhatsApp group and trained them for several days in the name of stock market and trading, and eventually defrauded them of crores of rupees, know more. 
WhatsApp Trading Scam:-Recently, a major online fraud happened with 59-year-old retired principal Chennupati Vijaykumar of Hyderabad, in which he was duped of Rs 8.1 crore. This case is another shocking example of the rapidly increasing cyber crime in the country, where people are trapped in the name of trading and investment.
How it started: In July 2024, a woman called Vijaykumar, claiming to be an employee of ‘SIG Group’ and added him to a WhatsApp group called ‘SIG Trading’. ‘SIG Group Teacher’ Eric Robertson and his assistant Lions present in this group started giving Vijaykumar many tips and information related to trading. Every day in this group, things like market trends, block trades were discussed, due to which Vijaykumar’s trust in the group and the people involved in it started increasing.
How was he convinced for investment: Gradually, Eric Robertson and his team convinced Vijaykumar to invest. After this, on July 15, he was added to another WhatsApp group named ‘E26-RK Global Customer Care’. Here he was advised to trade using an app called ‘RK Global’. Everything was being done in a professional manner in this group, due to which he did not have any kind of doubt in his mind.
The real game of fraud: Vijaykumar gradually invested Rs 8.1 crore through this ‘RK Global’ app by 3 October. In the first few days, Vijaykumar was also allowed to withdraw Rs 2,000 to give him some confidence, but after this, when he tried to withdraw a larger amount, problems started. Every time he tried to withdraw money, the transaction would appear in the app, but the money never came to his bank account.
When he talked to customer care about this, he was told that to withdraw the money, he would have to deposit 2% of his account balance, i.e. about Rs 37.5 lakh. Due to the constant demand for money, Vijaykumar gradually started getting suspicious. After gathering information online, he came to know that he had become a victim of a big cyber fraud.
Fraud disclosure and complaint: After the truth came out, Vijaykumar immediately lodged a complaint with the cyber crime helpline on October 18. This case has once again drawn attention to the dangers associated with online fraud. Especially retired people, who have a lifetime’s savings, are easily targeted by such fraudsters.
