SHEIKH ABID
WHAT if Bollywood film Phir Hera Feri’s epic Laxmi Chit Fund Scheme were to find its example in real? Yes, you heard it right… When Akshay Kumar said, “Ikkis dinon mein paisa double aur pachhis dinon mein crorepati”, little did he know that one day, in the future, Kashmiris would witness a similar type of ‘paisa double’ scheme which will have fraudsters washing away their 59 crores.
We are talking of one of Kashmir’s biggest scams by a company which promised big money if you invested in it. And brought more investors. Come, allow us to let you into its details.
- Decoding ‘Curative Survey’
I tried to Google the title ‘Curative Survey’. Besides all the media coverage on it, I got hold of a cheaply maintained website of theirs with a simple interface along with a short description of the company in broken, grammatically wrong sentences. I still wonder why one did not get suspicious of this malafide company just looking at their website in the very first instance!
By the way, here’s their description:
Q: What is Curative Survey?
A: It is a research and development unit for an upcoming bodycare and cosmetic organisation.
An upcoming cosmetic brand company with no business model to show, no profit returns, no product to sell… How can that company double your income when they have nothing to count upon?
Upon further investigation I found that Curative Survey Private Limited is a private limited non-government company incorporated in India on July 20, 2023. Its registered office is in Jammu. The company is engaged in the equipment and machinery industry. Its status is active and it’s a company limited by shares with an authorised capital of Rs 15 lakh and a paid-up capital of Rs 10 lakh, as per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs records. The records show Manickam Mariyadoss and Ramesh Keerthi, based in Tamil Nadu, as directors with Curative Survey Private Limited.
Another entity – Curative Survey – is a proprietorship firm incorporated on October 22, 2022, having its registered office at 42, A Space, Madipakkam, Second Floor, Thirugnana Sambandhar Street, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Curative Survey is classified as micro enterprise in the financial year 2022-23. The major activity of Curative Survey is services, sub-classified into information service activities and is primarily engaged in other information service activities.
All these definitions and records point towards the term – ‘Ponzi Schemes’.
- What are Ponzi apps/companies?
As per definition, ‘Ponzi apps’ are apps from firms which run investment schemes with promises of high returns at a low risk, based on the principle behind Ponzi schemes. The apps use investments of new investors to give returns on the investments of earlier investors. The term ‘Ponzi’ is borrowed from Charles Ponzi, the promoter of the first such scheme. He was exposed in the 1900s.
Ponzi schemes work like a chain, in which a person convinces another to join with a promise of higher returns. These are marketed through word of mouth. Earlier, they were run in the physical mode; now, with the evolution of the digital ecosystem, there are apps fulfilling the purpose. The schemes eventually stop paying the returns promised — and even returning the invested amount —once new members stop joining.
- The business model
The business model of these companies runs on the concept of Phir Hera Pheri’s epic dialogue ‘ITUS’ which states ‘Iski Topi Uske Sar’, which simply means one person’s invested money is being transferred to another person as his ‘paisa double’ reward against his already invested amount & similarly this guy gets money from another new person investing his share and the cycle continues till there is a total halt in investing process at some point of a time – hence the exposure.
- Mode of exposure to such apps
Usually, people come across these apps via their contacts who have invested in such schemes. Moreover, operators hire sales people to convince retail investors. These apps are listed on app stores and are often marketed on social media as well. The returns promised by these apps are higher than the legal investment options available in the country.
- Signs of a Ponzi scheme
Investors must analyse the scheme thoroughly before making investments. Ponzi schemes offer high returns while pitching them as a low-risk investment. Companies operating such apps or schemes are not licensed by the government.
They offer consistent returns even if there are uncertain economic conditions. However, they will lower the returns significantly when no new members are added or people start withdrawing their money. This way, they get the huge amounts of money pooled into their accounts and one day they disappear suddenly, without intimation to anyone.
- The whistle blower
The first whistle about this multi crore scam was blown by a YouTuber by the name of Nafi Javaid, a B-Tech student from Kulgam, who runs the ‘Nafxx Tech’ page on social media through which he educates the masses about online frauds and provides technical training and makes various informative videos related to the topic. In a video he uploaded on December 16, he exposed and explained everything about Curative Survey company – i.e., their business model, their modus operandi, alleged scam etc. It was just a day after this video that the company winded up their offices overnight and eluded with crores of rupees in a jiffy.
- Victims of Curative Survey
Even as the story is still developing and we might witness new revelations in the coming days, the KC team still managed to get hold of one victim of the scam. A student by profession, Adil got acquainted with the ‘paisa double’ scheme for the first time through his close friend who had also invested and was trying to expand his business through referrals. “My friend introduced me to the Curative Survey Company for the first time after he showed me his earnings. I got excited with this easy money earning method and invested all my pocket money. I created multiple IDs in greed to earn more from them but after some time, I was not able to withdraw my own invested money, leave aside my earnings,” Adil says, thumping his head regretfully.
Similarly, other victims, across various platforms on social media, have accused the company of duping and having lost lakhs.
One person was quoted saying on a news outlet on social media: “The company directed us to pay Rs 4,999 and register an email id online and participate in the survey, promising returns from Rs 100 to Rs 3000 every month and a total amount of Rs 45,000 in 15 months. I invested Rs 50,000 to register ten IDs.”. He further said that initially he was able to withdraw some money but suddenly the company vanished into thin air, leaving a trail of people who were tricked and scammed of their hard earned money. Another victim claimed to have invested Rs three lakh in this company by registering several IDs and had been able to get only Rs 40,000 for now.
Some have sold gold to invest, another lady invested 17 lakhs… and pensioners too have not been spared by this scam.
- Action by cyber police
A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged with the cyber police via Number 39/2023, invoking Sections 66D of the IT Act and 429 of the IPC. Reports indicate that the bank accounts of the fraudulent company, situated at the HDFC, Marble Market, Jammu; ICICI, Chhani Himmat, Jammu, and Yes Bank, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, have been frozen.
Meanwhile, several YouTubers and Instagram influencers, who promoted the brand in Kashmir and Jammu, are also under scrutiny in connection with the scam.
A police official tells KC, “We have started investigating the scam after it surfaced online. We are hunting the big catches and are looking at how they operated this scam in the Valley since last year. Those who are involved directly or indirectly will be called for questioning. Also, several YouTubers who promoted the agency, have been summoned, and their gadgets confiscated during preliminary investigation”.
“With new-age digital frauds happening rampantly post the internet revolution era, it’s the job of the cyber police to bring more awareness regarding online frauds and companies. People here are still naive and less informed, and they get attracted to these conmen easily. We need to make them aware of all cyber frauds,” Nawshad, a computer engineering graduate opines.
Similarly, our local influencers and YouTubers too need to be assured first before promoting any brand. When people invest in any company which they promote, they don’t trust the company as such but the person promoting that brand. So, it becomes their responsibility to cross-check and double check any brand before promoting them verbatim.
Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri has stated that the scammers who have cheated people, won’t go unpunished. “The police and other security agencies have taken cognizance of the issue and the matter is under investigation. Those who did fraud with people will be taken to task and won’t go unpunished and law will take its course,” Bidhuri is said to have told reporters here after the victims of the alleged scam cried for help and to be heard.
- Regulation in India
Ponzi schemes are illegal around the world. In India too, there are certain penalties, including imprisonment. However, with everything going digital, the apps running such schemes are being operated without any regulation or scrutiny by the government.
Earlier this year only, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the finance ministry was working with the Ministry Of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb the menace of such apps.
“We can’t allow those Ponzi apps taking away people’s hard-earned money,” Sitharaman had said.
It is and was never easy to earn money in any way. It takes blood and sweat to earn real money and hard work is the only way. We must, at individual and societal level, understand the importance of hard earned money and also the fact that there are no shortcuts to success and big money. Besides, we should also be aware about the changing dynamics of frauds from offline to online. Requisite information and awareness is the need of the hour. We, as a collective society, along with cyber crime department, must be vigilant of all these ‘Laxmi Chit Funds’, Curative Surveys and ‘Ikkis dinon mein paisa double’ scammers. Only then can we save our hard earned money.
