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Scam alert · · India

Fake "SEBI-registered" trading app using a cloned broker name and WhatsApp tips group

Investors are added to WhatsApp or Telegram groups run by a "research head" of a well-known broker, then told to install a lookalike app that shows fake profits and blocks withdrawals.

The group shares daily "institutional" stock tips and screenshots of large gains. Members are asked to install an app whose name and logo copy a real SEBI-registered broker, often with a slightly different domain. Deposits go to individual bank accounts, the app displays rising balances, and withdrawal requests are met with demands for "tax" or "margin" payments.

SEBI has repeatedly warned that registered intermediaries do not run tips groups and that funds are never collected into personal accounts.

Red flags

  • An app installed from a link rather than the Play Store or App Store, or a domain that differs from the broker's official site
  • Deposits to a personal or unrelated company bank account instead of the broker's own account
  • Guaranteed returns, "IPO allotment quota" or pressure to add funds before a deadline
  • Withdrawal blocked until a further payment is made

If you already responded

  1. Stop paying; any "release fee" is part of the scam
  2. Call 1930 and file on cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots of the group, the app and the payment details
  3. Check the real broker's registration on sebi.gov.in and inform the broker that its name is being cloned
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