Viral investment tip? SEBI urges investors to check these 3 things before trusting online advice or making payments

With advances in technology, the process of sharing information and ideas has also accelerated. This has facilitated the widespread circulation of investment tips, short-term investment ideas, stock recommendations, and trading advice on social and messaging platforms.

Still, before proceeding with any such investment ideas, it is prudent for well-informed investors to be cautious and verify any tips or freely available information. This is because a seemingly lucrative and harmless investment opportunity or idea may not always be genuine or provide the promised results.

Furthermore, transferring any money without proper background verification, risk assessment, and confirmation of the real recipient of the funds can expose investors to financial fraud and cause regret later on.

To help seasoned and new investors make meaningful, informed investment decisions, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has highlighted three key checks through its investor awareness initiative, ‘Samajh Se Investing Simple.’

In this initiative, the focus is on understanding investments at a conceptual level, verifying an intermediary’s registration, downloading trading applications with a clearly defined, verified label, and checking payment details before transferring funds. This message has been sent to citizens' WhatsApp numbers to raise awareness.

Here is SEBI's complete message:

"The investment tip is viral. But is it legit?

Before you trust the tip, check the facts.

• Intermediary? Check for SEBI registration.

• Trading app? Download Apps with Verified Label

• Investment payment? Use SEBI Check Tool before making payment

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐡 𝐒𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞.

An investor awareness initiative by SEBI.

For more information and verified resources, visit investor.sebi.gov.in/ssis or download SEBI Saa ₹thi App."

What should investors check before investing?

1. Verify the intermediary's registration

To ensure complete financial protection, before following any investment tip or advice or dealing with a market intermediary, it is prudent for investors to carefully verify the intermediary’s SEBI registration status through official sources. The verification of registration can help investors avoid unauthorised and fraudulent entities posing as fair and legitimate market professionals and participants.

2. Download trading apps from a verified platform

When you are looking to download trading applications, they should be obtained only from official sources, such as the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. APK files sent in random messages, or links sent via email, WhatsApp, etc., should not be clicked or used to download any application. This makes it critical for investors to check for verified applications from official app stores and confirm their authenticity before trusting them blindly and falling prey to fraudulent schemes.

3. Verify payment details before transferring money

Finally, before making any investment-related payment, investors should use SEBI’s ‘Check tool’ to analyse, verify, and review the relevant payment details. This simple yet meaningful step can help investors identify suspicious payment requests before funds are transferred to other accounts.

In summary, a viral investment tip should never replace prudence and independent verification of facts. All investors should therefore stay vigilant, check the source, confirm its authenticity and verify payment details before committing their funds. A few simple yet meaningful steps can go a long way toward helping investors protect their savings and make more informed investment decisions.

If you have any complaints regarding malpractice in the equity markets, you can refer to the official SEBI website at the following link: https://www.sebi.gov.in/ and click on the ‘Vigilance tab ’. Under this tab, you will find the option to ‘Register a complaint’

You can submit your complaint using these simple steps to ensure your financial well-being remains intact and that you are protected from unwanted messages, threats, and potential financial losses at all times.