India’s market regulator intensifies its campaign against fake trading apps and fraudulent financial promotions, calling for global digital accountability.
A Growing Menace in the Digital Marketplace
As online trading and mobile investing become fixtures of India’s financial landscape, a parallel threat has emerged: the proliferation of fake investment apps and fraudulent UPI links preying on unsuspecting retail investors. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the country’s market regulator, has stepped up its efforts to counter this rising tide of online scams, urging major social media companies and search engines to strengthen their safeguards against financial fraud.
In recent months, SEBI has reported a surge in deceptive digital advertisements — many disguised as legitimate investment opportunities — that lure users into transferring money through forged UPI handles or unregistered trading apps. These scams have grown increasingly sophisticated, exploiting the trust and accessibility of digital payment systems to siphon small but cumulative amounts from investors nationwide.
Global Standards, Local Urgency
The regulator’s latest initiative aligns with a global call from the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which earlier this year emphasized the urgent need for accountability among digital platforms. SEBI has formally written to leading online intermediaries — including social media networks, search engines, and app stores — pressing them to “prioritize and fast-track” mechanisms that prevent misuse of their systems to promote fake investment products.
Among SEBI’s recommendations are mandatory advertiser verification in the securities domain, ensuring that only SEBI-registered entities can market investment products online. It has also called for verified labeling on legitimate trading apps to help investors distinguish regulated platforms from fraudulent ones.
“SEBI supports IOSCO’s recommendations,” the regulator said in a statement, adding that it expects platforms to act swiftly “in the interest of investor protection and market integrity.”
Investor Awareness and Ground-Level Outreach
Alongside its regulatory push, SEBI has expanded its investor education campaigns, addressing both urban and regional audiences. On October 30, it conducted a Municipal Bond and REIT/InvIT Outreach Programme in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, aimed at familiarizing local government departments and urban bodies with capital-market fundraising mechanisms for infrastructure development.
The programme saw participation from senior officials across 14 urban local bodies — including Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai, and Raigarh — as well as representatives from the State Urban Development Agency and the Finance Department of Chhattisgarh. By combining education on legitimate investment channels with awareness of digital fraud, SEBI hopes to build institutional as well as individual resilience against financial deception.
Protecting the Retail Investor
At the retail level, SEBI has renewed its advisory urging investors to verify the registration status of any intermediary before investing. It has recommended using only genuine applications of SEBI-registered entities and to transact via validated UPI handles — identifiable by the “@valid” tag — to ensure payments are directed to authentic financial operators.
The regulator has also encouraged the public to rely on its “SEBI Check” platform and Saarthi app for verifying intermediaries and conducting secure transactions.
