Scam Alert: Beware of fake trading apps, you may lose lakhs and crores of rupees..
How to Identify Fake Trading Apps: In today's digital age, investing has become incredibly easy. Consequently, cyber fraudsters have also cast their nets, ensnaring numerous individuals who end up suffering financial losses amounting to lakhs and crores. These scammers target unsuspecting people through fake trading apps by luring them with the promise of massive profits in the stock market and cryptocurrencies—schemes in which people ultimately lose their hard-earned money. These apps look deceptively authentic, making it difficult for people to distinguish them from legitimate applications. In light of this, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) has shared a video on 'X' (formerly Twitter), explaining how users can identify fake trading apps. Let's take a look...
How Does the Scam Work?
Fake trading apps are designed to look exactly like genuine trading platforms. Due to a lack of awareness, users download these apps and begin investing their money. However, because these apps are fraudulent, the invested funds are never actually deployed in the market; instead, they go directly into the scammers' pockets. As a result, many individuals end up losing their life savings—often amounting to lakhs or crores of rupees.
SEBI Introduces 'Verified' Label
To mitigate the risk of fraud, SEBI has introduced a 'Verified' label system to help users identify legitimate trading apps. This initiative will make it easier to distinguish between genuine and fake applications. Simply put, all stock trading apps currently registered with SEBI in India will now display a special 'Verified' label on the Google Play Store. This makes it easy to ascertain whether an app is officially registered with SEBI. Currently, this feature is available exclusively for stock trading apps; however, it is expected to be extended to other financial applications in the future.
Additional Precautions for Users
Before making any investment, users should cross-check the provided bank details using SEBI's verification tools.
The UPI ID handle associated with the app must explicitly display the word 'Valid.' This can be verified using the SEBI check feature available on the 'Sarthi' app.
Always look for the 'Verified' label on an app before investing any money. Additionally, if you fall victim to fraud, immediately call 1930 or report it at http://cybercrime.gov.in.