SEBI chief warns investors on fraudsters offering guaranteed returns

Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Monday that while digital infrastructure has brought the markets to our fingertips, it has also armed fraudsters with new tools to deceive investors as unsolicited messages on messaging applications, dubious influencers and fake trading apps and websites promise the one thing that our markets can never offer -- guaranteed returns.

The SEBI chairman was speaking at the inauguration of the week-long celebration of the 'world investor week 2025', in India with the theme 'Fraud and scams prevention and basics of investing'. This is a global campaign by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to highlight the importance of Investor Education and protection.

Highlighting the findings of a market survey carried out by SEBI, Pandey said, “Only 36 per cent of investors possess high or moderate knowledge of the securities market. This knowledge gap is a vulnerability that exposes our investors to risks and makes them susceptible to fraud.”

The securities markets are the engines of our nation's growth, and it is our shared responsibility to ensure this engine runs on strong foundations of integrity and transparency.

The massive survey covering over 90,000 households, which was commissioned by SEBI in collaboration with AMFI, NSE, BSE, NSDL, and CDSL, gives us a clear, data driven picture of India's investment landscape. The insights from this survey will be our guide as we work to make our markets more inclusive and secure, Pandey said.

He pointed out that the rise of Indian investors has been celebrated over the last few years, and rightly so, increased access, simplified onboarding and wider awareness has led to number of unique investors in the securities market ecosystem increasing to 134 million.

"Our survey reveals that an impressive 63 per cent of Indian households, translating to 213 million households, are aware of at least one securities market product. However, our focus must be on the journey from awareness to action," Pandey observed.

The survey shows that actual participation stands at only 9.5 per cent of households translating to about 32 million households. While this number is significant, it highlights the vast potential for growth, he added.

Later, while speaking to the media, the SEBI Chairman said that "Whenever our team identifies non-registered influencers with SEBI, or if we receive complaints regarding them, we conduct a thorough investigation. If we find that they are misleading the public or violating SEBI rules, we escalate the matter to the platform providers".

"Platforms like Google, Meta, X, and Telegram then take action to remove them. Regarding data, we compile and share it every three months. When the next set of data comes in, we analyse it as well. We have already observed a reduction in such violations," he mentioned.

--IANS

sps/na