Post-covid years saw two trends in the finance world: a steep surge in the number of investors on the D-street and the popularity of financial influencers, or “finfluencers”, who drew lakhs of new followers with their “smart” money-making tips. But now, the trust they earned over the years is on the line.

On Telegram, the names and photos of these finfluencers are being exploited to entice people with offers that seem too good to refuse.

India Today’s Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team found at least a dozen channels impersonating some of India’s most trusted financial voices–Parimal Ade, CA Rachna, and Pushkar Raj Thakar among them. Many of such influencers run their own advisory firms.

Sample this offer made in Telegram group “Parimal Ade”: grow your money three times within two hours. Skepticism may set in at first, but the groups are flooded with self-review videos, screenshots, and screen recordings, all showcasing supposed profits.

Parimal Ade is a leading investment expert with over 569K subscribers on YouTube alongside running a consulting business under the name “Investyadna”.

To investigate further, India Today followed a link posted on his Telegram that led to WhatsApp and connected with one of the impersonators. The individual promised a return of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 on an initial investment of Rs 5,000 within just two hours.

When asked if he was truly Parimal Ade, he responded, “Aap mujhe jaante hain, trust kijiye. First investment 5k karke dekho” (You know me, trust me. Try a Rs5,000 investment first). He then shared a QR code for payment, which revealed the name ‘Maroop Khan’ on digital payment platforms.

Parimal’s associate Gaurav Jain told India Today: “The fraudulent use of our identity on Telegram and other social media platforms is a persistent issue.”

“Neither Investyadnya.in, Parimal, nor I have any presence on Telegram. We regularly educate our subscribers on YouTube and X to stay vigilant against such scams,” said Gaurav Jain from his team.

This is not an isolated case. Finance educator Pushkar Raj Thakur with 1.3 crore subscribers on YouTube has a fake profile on Telegram with over 1800 followers, run by an impersonator. The group is filled with messages of “money dubling” claiming investment of Rs3,000 for a return of ₹10000 profit and fixating on “deal once with us”.

The channel mimics Pushkar Raj Thakur’s signature style, using flamboyant fonts and a portrayal of luxury similar to his videos. The QR code for payments, however, displayed the name “Sunanda Kshirsagar” on digital platforms. When India Today questioned the impersonator about the name, they responded in bold block letters: “This company belongs to Pushkar Raj Thakur, don’t worry.”

Taking the scam to a new level, a Telegram account impersonating one of India’s most beloved teachers-turned-YouTubers, CA Rachna Ranade, who boasts 55 lakh subscribers, has adopted a different strategy.

The fake Telegram account has over 4,500 subscribers and features hundreds of screen recordings of demat accounts. At least five channels are impersonating her name with 600 hundred to 5000 subscribers, all part of a larger financial scam.

When contacted via WhatsApp, the impersonator claimed to be “Rachna Ranade” herself, offering demat account handling services. The individual requested the login credentials and password for the demat account. However, when India Today provided a fake demat ID, the impersonator promptly blocked all channels of communication.

India Today reached out to the teams of Pushkar Raj Thakur and Rachna Ranade for comments, but did not receive a response.

“The landscape of investment scams in India has evolved significantly with the rise of social media messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. Fraudsters are leveraging the identities of reputed financial professionals, fund managers, and influencers to deceive unsuspecting investors into joining fake investment groups promising quick returns,” Bengaluru-based cybersecurity firm CloudSEK said.