Fake SEBI-Registered Adviser Impersonation Scam over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

On a call the pressure is live: no time to read, no time to check, and a rule that you must not tell anyone. Fake SEBI-Registered Adviser Impersonation Scam is one of the ways this shows up: Scammers pose as registered advisers or well-known brokers, quote copied registration details and ask you to pay to a personal account.

What fake sebi-registered adviser impersonation scam looks like over the phone

• Being told to stay on the line and not to tell your family.
• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.

The scammer picks a real registered name and copies the certificate, the logo and the registration number from public records. They create profiles and websites that closely resemble the real ones, with only a letter or an extra word changed in the address. They contact you through ads, groups or calls after a lead form you filled out on a finance page.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• The adviser contacts you first and quotes a registration number.
• A certificate image is sent as proof.
• Fees are paid to a personal account or a different name.
• Returns are given as a fixed monthly percentage.
• You are told that a case, arrest, block or penalty is coming within minutes.
• You are asked to move money to a "safe account".

What to do

1. Do not pay or deposit until you verify the adviser.
2. Look up the registration on the regulator's official list by typing the address yourself.
3. Find the firm's own contact details independently and ask whether the person works there.
4. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
5. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
6. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 right away with payee details and amounts.
2. Tell your bank through the number on your card so it can try to hold transfers.
3. File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with certificates, chats and payment proofs.
4. Inform the real firm whose name was used, through its official channels.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's scam check reads a pitch you paste and shows signals such as fixed monthly returns, fees to a personal account and an adviser who contacted you first. The link check lets you paste a website address to look for lookalike domains. Money Shield asks you to verify before you pay. It cannot check regulator records, so use the official list and the firm's own contacts.

Full guide: Fake SEBI-Registered Adviser Impersonation Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, social media.

Questions