In a recent decision, the Delhi High Court has provided relief to Venture Capital (VC) firms Peak XV and Sequoia Capital by instructing instant messaging platforms WhatsApp and Telegram to take down channels and mobile numbers impersonating them.
The court’s direction comes in response to pleas filed by Peak XV and Sequoia Capital, alleging online fraud where individuals were being deceived using their names, resulting in financial losses for the public. The firms claimed that scammers impersonated their employees to conduct webinars on stock trading tips with the intention of duping unsuspecting victims.
Sequoia Capital highlighted a case where a WhatsApp group named John Analyst Group-303, managed by individuals claiming to be Sequoia Capital Investors Advisors and Sequoia Capital BTC Trading Team, provided investment and trading advice. The fraudsters instructed investors to open a Bitcoin trading account on the website “www.leadlec.com” and create a Cryptocurrency wallet on platforms like Binance or KuCoin. This fraudulent activity led to the misuse of Sequoia Capital’s name.
Similarly, Peak XV uncovered a website, “https://pakxv.joyppp.com/,” impersonating the firm and offering investment advice with enticing promises of significant returns. The fake website claimed that a Rs 1,000 investment would yield an income of Rs 19,900 with a daily income of Rs 420 for 45 days.
In response to the court order, unknown individuals impersonating these VC firms have been restrained from doing so. The court directed Alibaba Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co. Ltd to suspend/block access to the fraudulent website “https://pak.xv.ioyppp.com/,” which was spreading misinformation about the VC firms. Alibaba is required to provide complete details of the registrants of the website.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been instructed to issue notifications/directions to telecom and Internet Service Providers, Domain Name Registrars in India, to permanently block/delete/remove access to all telephone numbers, websites, domain names, accounts on social media, and messaging platforms impersonating Peak XV and Sequoia.
The court also directed IndusInd Bank to suspend the UPI ids used by those impersonating the VC firms, adding another layer of action against the fraudsters.