Be wary of Ads by investment gurus, many are tips by fraudsters
Many of these groups claim to be run by investors, fund managers, and advisers including Porinju Veliyath, Madhusudhan Kela, Ashish Kacholia, Anup Maheshwari and Rachana Ranade, among others. Some of them even claim to be run by popular television anchors.
Mumbai: The search for the next multi-bagger stock has resulted in several investors falling prey to operators masquerading as prominent investors or popular investment advisors. Various , platforms, and applications run by dubious operators offering subscribers mouth-watering returns in short periods have mushroomed in recent months, prompting some investors and regulators to issue warnings to investors.Many of these groups claim to be run by investors, fund managers, and advisers including Porinju Veliyath, Madhusudhan Kela, Ashish Kacholia, Anup Maheshwari and Rachana Ranade, among others. Some of them even claim to be run by popular television anchors.
Veliyath, founder of Equity Intelligence India told ET over a dozen fake advertisements by cyber criminals impersonating him are currently active.
"I do not provide any or advisory services. Surprised to see Meta is accepting and running advertisements from Cyber Criminals impersonating well-known people to defraud gullible investors," said the investor known for his micro-cap stock bets.
One such advertisement reads: "Don't miss out on profitable trading opportunities! Receive daily trade alerts directly to your WhatsApp. Gain an edge in the market with our proven system that analyzes market trends and identifies potential winning trades."
A click on these advertisements leads individuals to an online platform or a link to join a WhatsApp group. They showcase the performance of their stock picks that have returned 100-200% in a matter of weeks. Some of these platforms or groups ask investors to bring in at least ₹25,000 as initial corpus.
Some of these groups charge ₹5,000-Rs 10,000 as membership fee. Some of the users have taken to social media complaining that they have been blocked by the platform while trying to withdraw money.
An investment app named Choices (CHC-SES), launched at the end of November is said to have swindled several crores of rupees from investors after it disappeared within two months of being launched
A trader and financial influencer P R Sundar, whose name appeared in numerous advertisements on Facebook, told ET that various fraudulent groups are being sold using his identity
"Several fake IDs, not just under my name but also under many other popular names, have emerged. What these individuals do is they initially block us, so we remain unaware. SEBI needs to take action on this. People have incurred losses in crores."
The capital markets regulator and exchanges have been issuing regular warnings, urging investors to stay away from such dubious groups.
Thousands of such investors have filed complaints with the local police and National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal after losing money, said Porinju.
Anup Maheshwari, co-founder & chief investment officer at 360 One Asset wrote on Linkedin that his name has been falsely associated with an app by the name "SA AI".
Source: Stocks-Markets-Economic Times
