Be careful with the spare cash that you are looking to invest. Someone with malicious intent may be stalking you to part you from your money. The financial sector ocean is full of sharks eyeing your wallet. Dubious schemes are being floated by scammers with amazing regularity to entice unsuspecting investors with promises of astronomical returns.
Most often, before the authorities smell a rat, the promoters of the schemes vanish, leaving thousands of investors stranded with no hope of recovering even their principal. Take for instance the scheme floated by Jaipur-based Gold Sukh (the name itself, in retrospect, sounding fishy) which reportedly duped investors of Rs 200 crore by offering returns of 27 times on their investment within 18 months. That works out to a staggering 800 per cent annual return which ostensibly would have been generated through investment in gold.
The yellow metal, in one of its best years in 2011, had returned a comparatively meagre 32 per cent. As our story tells you, a fixed deposit at the current high rate of 9 per cent would multiply 27 times in 38 years!
The Speak Asia scheme is another case in point. The company, which offered payments for participation in online surveys, promised Rs 4,000 monthly returns for an investment of Rs 11,000.
Money Today: Feb 5, 2009
The promoters amassed an estimated Rs 2,500 crore before the authorities clamped down on the scheme. Scores of investors were left in the lurch.
Unfortunately, this is a game where both sides - the hunter and the hunted - can be faulted for being driven by greed.
While those who devise such schemes no doubt have a devious bent of mind, investors, too, are at fault for dreaming of quick riches. There are no short cuts to wealth on the investment horizon. It is always a long grind to big money. The lure of easy money can even lead to you to being stripped of everything you have.
Besides controlling that instinct of greed, how do you distinguish dubious offers from the scores of genuine investment options? The crux is that you need to stay a step ahead of the scammers because any number of stringent laws and regulations cannot keep them at bay. Our cover package tries to help you in this.
We tell you about the various games fraudsters play, and, more importantly, try to arm you with the knowledge and information that will help you to sense, and thereby stay away from, dubious financial offerings.
With the financial year coming to a close, you need to quickly plan your investments in tax-saving schemes. We give you a detailed rundown on the various investment options so you can minimise your tax burden. Hurry up!
SARBAJEET K. SEN
Executive Editor
