Fake SEBI-Registered Adviser Impersonation Scam on WhatsApp

How it looks on WhatsApp, the red flags and what to do.

On WhatsApp the scammer can send images, voice notes, PDFs and APK files, and a friendly profile photo makes the first message feel safe. 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 on WhatsApp

• A message from an unknown number, often with a stock photo of a smiling person.
• A friend or relative asking for urgent money from a new number or a hacked account.
• A group invite promising returns, jobs or prizes.

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 WhatsApp message

• 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.
• A new number says it is someone you know and asks for money; call the real person on the old number first.
• You are added to a group full of people praising profits.

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. Warn the group or family, and report the number on Sanchar Saathi if it is a scam call or message.
5. Do not click links or open files. Do not send money or codes.
6. Open the chat, tap the contact name and choose Block and report.

Inside WhatsApp use Block and report; for numbers that call or text you, the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility) also takes complaints.

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: phone call, social media.

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