KOCHI: In yet another multi-crore cyber fraud, Porinju Veliyath, an acclaimed stock investor and founder of Equity Intelligence, a Portfolio Management Service (PMS) firm, has approached the police after multiple social media accounts impersonated his identity and siphoned off money from investors.
Veliyath suspects that an organised racket is behind the crime. According to him, last month, his team noticed an advertisement being circulated on Facebook stating that he is providing advisory services to people on investing in appropriate stocks.
He soon reported the matter to the National Cyber Crime Portal, police and the stock market regular SEBI. His firm is only into Portfolio Management Services and Alternative Investment Funds.
“Recently, a retired government employee in Aluva contacted us claiming that he lost Rs 30 lakh after investing money in equity via a WhatsApp group started in my name. Then, we started receiving numerous calls informing about investments made as directed through WhatsApp groups created in my name and carrying my profile picture. A Kochi native lost Rs 2 lakh after following from a similar WhatsApp group. We suspect that numerous persons have fallen for the trap,” he said.
According to Veliyath, his team could trace around 60 such fake WhatsApp groups operational using his name and picture. In some groups, the admin is named as Asiya Rani. Some of these groups were charging Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 for membership. Veliyath first filed a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.