Phishing Scams, Fake Apps Increasing At Alarming Rate, Says Nithin Kamath

Phishing scams, especially those through websites and fake apps that look legitimate, have witnessed an enormous rise in the past few months. Zerodha's Founder and Chief Executive Officer Nithin Kamath on Monday said that the scams take advantage of emotions like hope, fear, and greed to trap individuals.

He also added that his team has discovered various scams happening in the name of Zerodha. He further asked users to be very cautious. "Be extremely suspicious about everything," Kamath added.

"There are now countless phishing scams that take advantage of the familiarity of all major brands, celebrities, etc. The tricks vary—fake apps, fake websites, fake social media profiles, scam calls—but all with the same goal: to steal your money. We've discovered multiple such scams in the name of @zerodhaonline," said Nithin Kamath through a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In the post, he also shared a video highlighting how the names of top executives of Zerodha were being used to defraud people.

Kamath went on to offer people tips to deal with such scams. The first one is to never act in a hurry and to verify the source before taking any action like downloading an app or clicking a link. He also suggested that if something seems too good to be true, then it is probably a scam.

This comes at a time when even actors and celebrities are falling prey to online scams. A case in point is that of television actress Karuna Pandey, who was duped of Rs 2.75 lakh in an online scam. Pandey received a call from "Mumbai Police," who alleged that an illegal transaction was conducted via one of her dormant bank accounts. The caller, impersonating a top-level police official, claimed that she was summoned by the high court and advised settling the matter by transferring the money.

There have been cases where the caller impersonating a DSP made calls about accidents and threatened to arrest the victim. These imposters know personal details like name, number, and account numbers and take advantage of the person's fear to make off with their money.