‘Shield Yourself’: Nithin Kamath Offers Guidance Amid Escalating Financial Scams

New Delhi, Nov 29 (NationPress) The co-founder and CEO of the online brokerage firm Zerodha, Nithin Kamath, on Friday emphasized the importance of self-protection as financial frauds escalate in the country.

“In just the last 9 months, scams have amounted to 11000 crores!” Kamath noted in a post on X, highlighting a case of a tech professional from Bengaluru who was defrauded of nearly Rs 91 lakh in a stock market scam.

He remarked, “The trend of these frauds is on the rise.” Additionally, Kamath expressed concern that this issue is likely to intensify as fraudsters begin to leverage artificial intelligence (AI).

“I dread to think what it will be like once the fraudsters use AI,” he added.

Kamath also shared a simple yet critical tip to help individuals avoid falling victim to such scams. He urged people to identify and steer clear of scam groups by adjusting their privacy settings on widely-used messaging applications like WhatsApp and Telegram.

“One effective way to protect yourself is to modify your settings on WhatsApp and Telegram so that strangers cannot add you to groups,” Kamath advised. He also provided a detailed guide on how to make these adjustments.

By modifying the setting, WhatsApp users can ensure that only their contacts are allowed to add them to groups.

According to a recent report from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Indians have faced cyber fraud losses totaling Rs 11,333 crore in the first nine months of 2024.

Among these losses, stock trading scams accounted for the largest share at Rs. 4,636 crore, followed by investment-related scams at Rs. 3,216 crore. India has also recently experienced an uptick in “digital arrest” frauds, which resulted in losses of Rs. 1,616 crore.

If you encounter financial fraud, complaints can be reported via the helpline number 1930 or through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.