The Cybercrime police, east division, have registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly launching a fake investment website in the name of Premji Invest, misusing the details of the company to cheat gullible investors.

There was also an android app named PREMJIEX on Google Playstore and several WhatsApp groups under the same name, which is suspected to be created by the same fraudsters. The admins of these WhatsApp groups have misused the photographs of the management personnel of Premji Investment Advisory LLP, which were available on public domain.

According to the complaint, Premji Investment Advisory LLP is the entity responsible for managing the private investments of Azim Premji, and it does not provide any manner of investment advisory to the general public at large, and it is only concerned with its group and affiliated entities.

Premji Investment Advisory LLP does not have any social media presence either in its name or under its trade name of Premji Invest, barring a profile on Linkedin. The fraud came to light last month that unknown miscreants have created a website under the domain https://premjiex.com, misusing the trade name Premji Invest.

A probe revealed that the accused have been charging money from unsuspecting third parties on the pretext of providing stock market tips and advisory by taking advantage of the reputation Premji Invest.

“They go insofar as to claim that every transaction conducted on the website would contribute some money to the Azim Premji Foundation. They have also published the registration number belonging to the Premji Investment Advisory,” the complaint said.

It said that the app on the playstore had a sub-text ‘Gujarat Digital’ owned by Vishal Ghanshyam, a lead being probed by the police. Efforts are on to track down the miscreants, the police said.