SEBI Flags Over 1 Lakh Misleading Investment Messages Amid Rising Digital Scams
SEBI flags over 1 lakh fake investment messages as digital scams target millions.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has identified and flagged more than 100,000 misleading and false investment-related messages circulating on digital platforms as part of its ongoing “Sebi versus Scam” initiative. Speaking at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit 2025, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey highlighted the growing menace of unregulated financial influencers who pose a significant risk to investors, with a recent survey showing that 62% of investors rely on influencer recommendations for their decisions.
In response, SEBI has escalated efforts to monitor social media use, requesting takedown of misleading content, and mandating stock exchanges to publish whitelists of verified broker apps to help investors identify trustworthy sources. New tools, including “Valid UPI” and the “Sebi Check” platform, allow investors to authenticate the bank accounts and QR codes linked to registered intermediaries, providing critical defense against cyber fraud.
Pandey emphasized that investor protection begins with education, particularly given the rapid spread of deceptive content online. To build trust and uncover gaps in awareness, SEBI plans to expand its investor education programs across digital media, multimedia formats, and regional languages, alongside on-ground outreach activities. Despite growing participation, awareness remains uneven, with only 15% of urban and 6% of rural populations currently invested in the markets.
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SEBI’s efforts also aim to bridge the divide between knowledge and active participation in the securities market, while preparing to introduce new regulatory frameworks for derivatives, short-selling, and buyback norms to maintain transparency and integrity. The regulator’s approach balances effective oversight with enabling market momentum, as demonstrated by the robust capital raised in public issues this year.
The crackdown underscores SEBI’s commitment to safeguarding retail investors from fraudulent trading apps, fake advisory services, cloned websites, and exaggerated return claims that continue to exploit the investing public’s trust in India’s rapidly evolving financial ecosystem.
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