Fraudulent Investment Schemes Surge in 2025: Impact on Economy, Psychological Tactics These scams, often masquerading as lucrative stock market opportunities or crypto investments, have already scammed nearly INR 17.45 crore in 2024

As India accelerates its digital transformation, malicious groups are keeping pace, refining their tactics to exploit unsuspecting investors. In 2025 alone, the country is projected to lose a staggering INR 20,000 crore to cybercrime, with investment scams emerging as the most financially devastating form of fraud, according to a recent report by CloudSEK.

These scams, often masquerading as lucrative stock market opportunities or crypto investments, have already scammed nearly INR 17.45 crore in 2024. Highlighting a particularly alarming case, Pavan Karthick M, Threat Researcher at CloudSEK, recounted how a senior citizen lost over INR 13 crore to a fraudulent scheme that exploited the image of a reputable brand.

Additionally, fraudulent domains and scam investment apps are proliferating at alarming rates—growing by 65 per cent and 83 per cent year-over-year, respectively. This has fueled the rise of sophisticated "pig-butchering" schemes, in which scammers cultivate long-term trust before wiping out victims' savings.

Tarun Wig, Co-Founder & CEO of Innefu Labs, warns that the projected losses from cybercrime and investment fraud are only expected to rise further. He notes, "Cybercriminals continue to change their modus operandi, employing tactics such as AI-assisted social engineering attacks, deepfake technology, and advanced phishing schemes targeting both individuals and businesses."

Further, Rishi Agrawal, CEO and Co-Founder of TeamLease RegTech, emphasises that India operates on a scale unmatched by most of the world, with 16.99 billion digital transactions recorded in January 2024 alone. In contrast, the entire European Union recorded 8.4 billion electronic money (e-money) transactions in the whole year of 2022. "Even a small fraction of fraudulent activities within this vast ecosystem creates immense opportunities for cybercriminals," he says.

However, Karthick M believes that, at present, the direct impact of large-scale investment scams on India's overall economy remains limited to a fraction of its vast market capitalisation. But he warns, "The potential for significant harm exists. If citizens are not educated and empowered to protect themselves against these deceptive practices, these scams could proliferate, leading to exponentially increasing negative effects on the economy in the future."

Speaking about the psychological manipulation tactics scammers employ, Rajjat Gulati, Co-Founder of plutosONE, explains, "Scammers often create an illusion of scarcity that puts immense pressure on people to act immediately—making it difficult for them to carry out sufficient research. In addition, scammers use social compliance by pretending to be authority figures or experts within a certain field, increasing the chances of victims following their instructions without question," he says.