A 61-year-old resident of Noida has reportedly lost over Rs 1 crore in a stock trading scam operated via WhatsApp, with one of the fraudsters impersonating a “professor” providing stock market advice. According to The Times of India, the victim, Sital Kumar from Sector 113, was contacted in April 2023 by three individuals who claimed to be financial advisors from E-Trades India Company Private Limited, which they falsely represented as a subsidiary of the global investment bank Morgan Stanley. The alleged scammers enticed Kumar to invest substantial amounts over three months with promises of exceptionally high returns.
One of the accused, who identified himself as Sanjay Sharma, conducted daily online sessions through a WhatsApp group, offering advice on stock trading, initial public offerings (IPOs), and after-hours markets. The two others, Alyssa and Priyanka Singh, purported to be his assistants and reportedly assisted Kumar in establishing a high net-worth individual (HNI) account. They later persuaded him to upgrade to an ultra-HNI account, claiming it offered better trading opportunities.
By June 2024, Kumar had invested more than Rs 1 crore and became suspicious when asked for additional funds upon attempting to withdraw his investments. A visit to Morgan Stanley’s Mumbai office in July unveiled that neither the supposed subsidiary nor the individuals were affiliated with the firm.
Kumar filed a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Portal in November and contacted the cybercrime branch earlier this month. Authorities have registered a case under sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act. The police are currently investigating the financial trail and validating the legitimacy of the investment platforms used in the scheme.
