Instagram is a really popular social media platform and we find ourselves scrolling on the platform for hours at length. And we often click on lucrative ads. But next time, be careful because it might make you lose all your money.
Scams are growing these days and it seems like scammers are not leaving any platform when it comes to scamming people. Now, a new scam has come forward where a woman from Mangalore lost over 74.1 lakh rupees in an online stock market scam. How did all of this start? By clicking on an Instagram ad.
Also read: iPhone users beware! You can lose all money in this India Post scam
A TOI report reveals that on March 15 the victim was scrolling through Instagram where she saw a share trading ad on Instagram promising high returns. She clicked on the link and was directed to a page with trading information. She then messaged them. Post that, an unknown person contacted her on WhatsApp. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and gave her a link to join a group named D101 Artemis Seminar Group.
In this group, she got regular updates about online trading. On April 25, she was sent another link to open a trading account with Artemis Profit Trading. Just like in most scam cases, the victim was told that the more she invested, the higher her yield would be.
The victim initially just invested Rs 10,000. However, over time, she invested more money. Between March 15 and July 4, she transferred a total of Rs 73.6 lakh to various bank accounts and paid Rs 50,000 directly to Artemis Profit Trading.
After a point, she wished to withdraw the money, and no surprise here, she couldn’t get it back. That’s when she realised that it was a scam. She then reported it to Cyber Crime and Economic Offences (CEN).
So next time you’re scrolling through Instagram and feel like clicking on an ad, be very careful.
