Online fraudsters using photos of celebrities to con investors: Odisha police

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha police stepped up its crackdown against multi-level marketing firms and online Ponzi schemes by freezing ₹75 lakh in 14 bank accounts across India

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha police stepped up its crackdown against multi-level marketing firms and online Ponzi schemes by freezing ₹75 lakh in 14 bank accounts across India.

In similar schemes, the EOW had frozen ₹1.22 crore earlier. The investigating agency stumbled upon innovative methods applied by fraudsters to cheat gullible investors.

“In the fresh cases, it was found that these scammers are using the morphed photographs of celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar and Technical Guruji [famous YouTuber],” said Jai Narayan Pankaj, Deputy Inspector General (EOW).

Mr. Pankaj said they also used the logo of big companies like Tata to mislead or impress upon people on various social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.

“Earlier it was found that an app ‘Join trade- Financial growth’ was using the morphed pictures of leading Bollywood actors like Akshay Kumar and Manish Paul to mislead and instil trust in public,” said the senior police officer.

During investigation, the EOW came across some social media influencers using their accounts to promote these apps or schemes. Moreover, some TV stars and small celebrities were found to be endorsing such social media influencers and their advice related to making quick money through these online Ponzi apps.

“Most of the victims are from the lower middle class, including many students, wishing to become rich in a short span of time using these shortcuts. It came to surface that the amount can only be deposited through unified payment interface identification reflected in the app which keeps changing constantly each minute and such IDs were linked to savings bank and current accounts maintained in the name of many shell companies or firms and individuals,” said Mr. Pankaj.