SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday that the regulator will take a tough approach to investment scams on WhatsApp and Telegram. “We have to actually stop the malpractices with a heavy hand,” Pandey said. SEBI has already flagged many fake groups and introduced tools to protect investors.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will take a tough approach to malpractice involving WhatsApp and Telegram investment groups, Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday, as the regulator steps up efforts to help investors distinguish genuine market participants from scammers.

“We have to actually stop the malpractices with a heavy hand,” Pandey said during a panel discussion at NDTV Profit Ignite in Mumbai on Wednesday

He warned that scammers use messaging groups to create the impression that their investment recommendations are credible, including by making members appear to endorse claims of exceptional or guaranteed returns.

“In that fake world, people are believing and losing tons of money,” Pandey said.

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Stepping Up Action

Pandey said SEBI was working to tackle misleading online investment content and had escalated more than 2.2 lakh instances to social media platforms for takedown. He said the regulator acts on evidence of wrongdoing, using filters and human judgement.

SEBI has also worked with Google to introduce a verified label for trading apps on the Google Play Store in India, Pandey said. The label is intended to help users identify apps associated with regulated securities-market entities.

The chairman urged investors to check the legitimacy of investment offers instead of relying on recommendations circulated in messaging groups.

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Pandey also highlighted SEBI Check, a tool that allows investors to check whether a bank account, UPI ID or QR code is associated with a regulated securities-market recipient.

He said investors could use the tool to check payment details before transferring money. For UPI IDs, he said the absence of the word “VALID” in the result indicates that the address is not a valid UPI destination for a securities-market recipient.

The regulator's challenge, Pandey said, is to make investors aware of these checks and encourage them to use the tools before sending money.

He linked the effort to SEBI's Project Jagrook investor-education campaign, which aims to make investing information easier to understand and reach people across languages.

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