Two more investors lose over ₹1 crore each to WhatsApp frauds. How to protect yourself from such scams?

livemint.com:

₹1.97 crore in a well-orchastrated financial fraud prevalent on the social media.Singhania and Dhillon used to conduct video conference with other members including the victim.Those members started sharing on the WhatsApp group about the huge profits they had earned on the basis of investing tips. He, too, invested in the stock market via a website they recommended: app.alicexa.com.

He initially realised that he was earning huge profit, he had booked high gains, so he invested ₹1.97 crore between March 12 and May 3But when he wanted to withdraw the money, the scamster demanded first ₹18.7 lakh as tax followed by 1 percent of portfolio value.In another strikingly similar case from Ahmedabad one Jayendra Chauhan, deputy mamlatdar, lost ₹1.13 crore. He found one entity on Facebook called Vanguard Club V5 that featured a famous investment analyst.He opened an account gave initial fee of ₹25,000 so that one professor Ganesh Ranga could share stock tips.

Like Patel, he also reportedly earned some profits that gave him confidence to invest ₹1.13 crore during April.But his happiness was short lived when each member of the group was told to deposit 30 percent of their balance as a refundable deposit in order to help Ranga who was reportedly arrested in a money laundering case.When he could not access his money, he approached the cyber-crime cell to file a police complaint. In a similar incident, one investor from Jayanagar in Bengaluru was conned of ₹5.2 crore as a result of inducements on social media groups.1.

Say no to random messages: Do not join any group on social media or a website based on a recommendation of stray message received on your phone.2. Credible players only: There are a handful of known websites which