Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath sounds alarm on Rs 11,000 cr scams—Shares WhatsApp & Telegram hacks to stay safe

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a grim statistic about the rising tide of financial scams in India. Highlighting frauds worth a staggering Rs 11,000 crore in just the past nine months, he expressed concern over what the future might hold, especially with the increasing sophistication of scammers potentially leveraging AI.

"The trend of these frauds is increasing," he said, adding, "I dread to think what it will be like once the fraudsters use AI."



In an effort to help users safeguard themselves, Kamath suggested a simple yet effective precaution—changing privacy settings on WhatsApp and Telegram to prevent strangers from adding you to groups. He even shared screenshots illustrating how to tweak these settings.

Here's how you can adjust your settings to prevent strangers from adding you to groups:

• Open WhatsApp and go to Settings (gear icon in the bottom right corner).
• Select Privacy from the menu.

• Tap on Groups under the privacy options.

• Change the setting to My Contacts or My Contacts Except… to limit who can add you to groups.

In a recent case, a software engineer from Horamavu lost Rs 91 lakh in a stock market training scam, reported The Times of India. The victim, was lured by fraudsters via a WhatsApp message offering online stock trading training and a request to vote for them in a “Global AI Smart Trading Competition.” Over 45 days, he was manipulated into investing through fake apps that displayed inflated profits.

He initially invested Rs 50,000 but increased the amount after being promised high returns, including 50% profits from IPOs. He was encouraged to borrow from a fraudulent banking app, with his investments eventually reaching ?91 lakh. When he attempted to withdraw, he was asked to pay additional fees for foreign transactions and regulatory compliance. After realizing the apps were blocked and his queries unanswered, he reported the fraud to the police on November 25.

A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating.