Investment fraud is no longer a fringe concern — it has become a silent but widespread danger creeping into everyday digital habits across India. And while cybercrime has taken many shapes over the years, DIG Sanjay Shintre says investment frauds are now becoming a major tool for cybercriminals to extort money from people’s accounts.
During the conversation, Shintre puts a stark picture in perspective. “In the beginning, if we talk about the entire India, at least 50 crore people are active in social media. Some are using WhatsApp, some are using Facebook, some are using YouTube, some are using Instagram. There are 37 chatting platforms in the entire India.”
With smartphones becoming universal, every age group — children, women, senior citizens — now exists online. “Everyone has email IDs. Everyone has it.” And that, he says, is where the vulnerability begins.
According to Shintre, criminals don’t just scam randomly — they study potential victims. “What is happening because of this chatting platform is that cyber criminals are getting data that who all are active in it… Then they go into tossing.”
It starts with subtle tracking. For example, a woman searching beauty products may begin receiving investment ads disguised as financial advice. Someone above 35 searching wealth planning will see content about stock trading and high-return schemes.
Shintre explains:
“They can see your interest. They sense it… After sensing it, you get an advertisement on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube.” These aren’t casual ads — they’re hooks.
Victims are then added to groups that look credible, complete with logos, disclaimers and 100–200 members. But as Shintre reveals, “In that group, there are 10-12 criminals. The rest are victims.”
The method is psychological. First, a small investment earns returns. “What will happen to this? Then they say what happened to ₹100? It became ₹112. Return it.” Confidence builds. Then comes bigger investment — ₹50,000, ₹1 lakh, sometimes crores. By the time the victim realises the platform is fake — the criminals vanish.
Before signing off, DIG Sanjay Shintre leaves behind a statement that sums up the entire digital crime ecosystem: “If mule accounts are closed, there will be no cyberfrauds.” Behind every scammer, every fake trading community, every vanished investment — there is a bank account that made the crime possible. His words serve as a reminder that solutions do not always lie in more technology; sometimes, it’s in closing the loopholes already in front of us.
As India becomes one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, the responsibility now lies with systems, platforms, and citizens to stay alert — because in cybercrime, prevention isn’t just better than cure, it is the only cure
