SEBI has yet again cautioned investors against taking advice from social media. According to SEBI, if you take stock-related advice from “social media platforms like Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, YouTube, be cautious you can get scammed as the fraudsters have increased their manipulative and fraudulent activities via these platforms.”
The market watchdog in a press release said that it has seen a rise of fraud in securities markets on social media platforms. They try to lure investors or the general public by giving trading calls and promising returns, all of it in the name of education.
“Unregistered investment advisory services provided by entities that falsely claim to be registered intermediaries with SEBI or by showcasing fake certificates purportedly issued by SEBI,” read a press release.
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The fraudsters also scam people by saying that they are registered with SEBI. They claim to give risk-free returns or assured returns on WhatsApp and Telegram channels by deceptively associating themselves with SEBI.
Beware of misleading investment advice says SEBI
The scamsters mislead people by designing manipulative content and asking investors to join private group chats or channels where they give exclusive so-called “tips”. There are a lot of examples like VIP group, Discounted trading group, Institutional Trading group, etc.
Not just that, “scamsters are enticing gullible investors by claiming that they provide exclusive services on their platform (Fake trading/advisory apps) facilitating securities trading that allows the subscriber to enjoy preferential services with regard to trade and share price e.g. Institutional trading account, IPOs at discounted price, Block Trade at discounted price, Sure shot allocation of IPO,” read the release.
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In January 2025, the markets regulator cracked on ‘finfluencers’ (financial influencers), imposing strict restrictions on the use of live stock market data for educational purposes. The mandate was to crack the whip on influencers who were using live stock market data to give trading calls in the guise of education.
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