We missed this earlier: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently reached out to social media platforms and internet-based search engines to crack down on online investment scams, a press release revealed.
The Indian securities market regulator remarked that this move is in line with global developments, citing the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which, in May 2025, highlighted the critical role of “platform providers” in curbing online fraud.
Notably, the IOSCO urged these platform providers to “enhance efforts to reduce the risk of financial harm to investors.”
What Does The SEBI Advisory Say?
For Platform Providers:
SEBI has asked social media platforms and search engines to immediately prioritise and fast-track the following:
- Mandatory Advertiser Verification: Platform providers must verify advertisers to ensure that only SEBI-registered entities promote investment products and services.
- Labelling of Verified Status of Registered Intermediary Apps: SEBI has instructed platform providers to introduce a distinct label for authentic and regulated trading applications to help investors distinguish them from fraudulent ones.
For Investors:
SEBI has urged investors to exercise extreme caution and:
- Verify the registration status of entities on the SEBI website’s Intermediaries page before investing any funds.
- Conduct transactions only through authentic trading applications of SEBI-registered intermediaries, after verifying them via the Authorised Mobile Trading Apps tab within the Investor Support section on the SEBI website.
- Utilise the ‘Validated UPI Handles’(“@valid” UPI IDs of SEBI-registered investor-facing intermediaries) and the ‘SEBI Check’ platform, in addition to the Saarthi application, to make secure investor payments.
What Are The ‘Validated UPI Handles’ and ‘SEBI Check’ Initiatives?
SEBI announced on October 1 this year that it had successfully rolled out the Validated UPI Handles and SEBI Check features for investors.
Validated UPI Handles:
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) IDs of all SEBI-registered investor-facing intermediaries will include the “@valid” handle, along with category-specific suffixes such as .brk for brokers and .mf for mutual funds.
A distinctive “thumbs-up inside a green triangle” icon will appear to confirm transaction authenticity when a payment is made through a @valid UPI handle. Notably, the absence of this icon serves as a warning that the investor may be transacting with an unauthorised entity.
“This facility (Validated UPI Handles) complements existing payment modes, allowing investors the flexibility to continue using the method they are most comfortable with,” SEBI stated in its press release last month.
SEBI Check Platform:
Through this feature, investors can verify the authenticity of all SEBI-registered intermediaries using bank account…
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