Investment and trading scam
WhatsApp or Telegram groups with “stock tips” and a trading app showing big profits you can never withdraw. How to check before investing.
The giveaway: Guaranteed returns, or paying a fee to withdraw your own money.
How it works
A WhatsApp or Telegram group shares "stock tips" and invites you to a trading app that shows large profits. When you try to withdraw, you are asked to pay a tax or fee first.
Red flags
- Guaranteed or unusually high returns.
- You were added to a WhatsApp or Telegram group you did not ask to join.
- The trading app is not from a broker you can find on SEBI’s website.
- Other group members keep posting screenshots of their profits.
- You are asked to pay a tax, fee or “margin” before you can withdraw your own money.
- Deposits go to a personal bank account or UPI ID, not to the broker.
Example
“Today’s recommended stock gave our members 40% in one session. Institutional account slots are closing tonight. Message the assistant to open your account and start with a small amount.”
The profits shown in the app are numbers on a screen. The test is whether you can withdraw, and you cannot.
This is an illustration of the pattern, not a copy of a real message. Real ones vary in wording.
What to do
- 01Stop sending money, however much is “stuck”. Paying a fee to withdraw only loses more.
- 02Check that the broker or adviser is registered with SEBI before investing with anyone.
- 03Take screenshots of the group, the app, and every payment you made.
- 04Call 1930 and file a complaint on the cyber crime portal with those details.
- 05Leave and report the group.
Where to report
SEBI SCORES
Complain to the securities regulator about an unregistered adviser or a fake trading platform.
Open scores.sebi.gov.inYour bank
Call the number printed on the back of your card or shown in your bank’s own app, and ask them to block the card or account and dispute the transaction.
Call 1930
The national cyber-fraud helpline. If money has left your account, call straight away — the sooner it is reported, the better the chance of the money being frozen.
Call 1930National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
File a complaint online at cybercrime.gov.in. Keep the acknowledgement number it gives you.
Open cybercrime.gov.inSanchar Saathi (Chakshu)
Report the suspicious call, SMS or WhatsApp number to the Department of Telecommunications, even if you lost nothing.
Open sancharsaathi.gov.in
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Last reviewed: 6 Oct 2026. Sources: Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Reserve Bank of India, SEBI and the Department of Telecommunications. How we verify