Investment fraud often looks friendly and professional. A few warning signs catch most of it.
Warning signs
- Guaranteed or very high returns. Real investments that can grow can also fall. Anyone promising otherwise is not being honest.
- Tips in WhatsApp or Telegram groups, or from strangers on social media. Some groups push a little-known share so its price rises, then the organisers sell to the people who followed the tip.
- Pressure to act now: “only today”, “limited seats”, “don’t tell anyone”.
- Requests for your passwords, OTPs or UPI PIN, or to install an app that controls your phone. No genuine broker, bank or adviser asks for these.
- Apps or websites that copy a well-known broker’s name. Download trading apps only from the official app stores, and check the publisher.
Check who you are dealing with
- Anyone who charges for investment advice or research must be registered with SEBI. You can check investment advisers, research analysts, brokers and other intermediaries on SEBI’s website (sebi.gov.in).
- Complaints about a registered intermediary can be filed on SEBI’s SCORES portal (scores.sebi.gov.in).
- Schemes collecting deposits without permission can be reported on the RBI’s Sachet portal (sachet.rbi.org.in).
- If you have lost money to online fraud, call the national cyber crime helpline, 1930, or report it at cybercrime.gov.in, as quickly as possible.
Where i-wise stands
i-wise gives information and tools, not tips, and is not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst. We will never ask for your passwords or OTPs, and we have no groups that give tips.
General information for education, not investment, tax or financial advice. Rules, rates and limits change: check the official sources before acting, and consider a SEBI-registered investment adviser for advice on your own situation.