WhatsApp Scam: Nithin Kamath Warns Netizens Against New Investment Fraud

New Delhi: Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath has informed netizens about a new kind of part-time job offer scam running on WhatsApp. He warned that someone whom he knew got scammed and lost money. He described the entire part-time job offer scam in the Twitter thread.

ALSO READ | Communication App Zoom Gets Pan-India Telecom Licence

Scamsters have been using different ways to trap innocent customers and to siphone off money from their accounts. The rate of scams has been doubled in the last few years because of increase usage of smartphones and digitisation.

Nithin Kamath explained the scam that it started with a response to a part-time job offer on WhatsApp. The first few tasks were about leaving fake reviews for resorts & restaurants in random places like Peru – Rs 30k was transferred to the bank for the tasks completed.

Someone I know got scammed & lost money.

It started with a response to a part-time job offer on WhatsApp. The first few tasks were about leaving fake reviews for resorts & restaurants in random places like Peru. ~Rs 30k was transferred to the bank for the tasks completed. 1/8 — Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) May 3, 2023

ALSO READ | FM Sitharaman Meets Japan Bank In Incheon, South Korea

He added that a telegram group had been created with other swho claimed to do these tasks. “The next task for the group was to trade on a mock crypto platform, following a bunch of rules. Profits generated were allowed to be withdrawn, even without transferring any real money.”

They don’t use Bitcoin or Ethereum, but random crypto tokens were used whose prices fraudsters could easily manipulate. “The group was now asked to transfer real money to generate higher returns. Others in the group claiming to transfer nudged my friend to do so as well,” he added.  

He further added, “I guess the risk didn't seem much since the money transferred was the Rs 30K earned through the platform. But greed took over, and more money was transferred, probably due to peer pressure from others in the group who claimed to have made large transfers and profits.”

The person, Kamath told, tried to withdraw but couldn’t and was told that a certain number of traders was required. The fear of being unable to withdraw the money took over, and more money was added to trade. This amounted to Rs 5 lakh, a large amount for any person.

“The account seemed like a real crypto account, with account balance, ledger, P&L, etc. But it was all fake; everything on it was manipulated, including the telegram group. The crypto price movements were also manipulated to generate profits and sow greed at the start,” Kamath said.

Kamath informed in the thread that the police shared many cases – even well-educated folks borrowing tens of lakhs and losing it in such sophisticated scams. He further informed that “everyone is target, and we need to create awareness. The important thing to remember is that there is no easy way to make a lot of money quickly.