Upstox Cautions Investors Of Impersonation Scams

Amid a surge in scams wherein a group of individuals are trying to impersonate brands and defraud the public, online discount broking platform Upstox has cautioned about the impersonation scams targeting investors.

Besides, the company has also initiated a comprehensive awareness campaign to educate and protect its 1.4 Cr customer base. 

Upstox has issued the cautionary advisory after its cybersecurity team has identified common patterns in these scams, including the creation and usage of fake social media accounts, apps, WhatsApp groups, and websites pretending to be the company.

Ravi Kumar, CEO and cofounder of Upstox, said, “It’s our responsibility to educate individuals about these events and our commitment to preparing them to tackle such situations. We take the safety and security of our investors very seriously.”

The company has also noticed fake channels such as ‘Upstox Facilities Group’ and ‘Upstox Investment Academy’ falsely claiming affiliation with Upstox and posing as its employees, it said in a statement. 

These groups are allegedly conducting educational courses and sessions on the stock market under Upstox’s name. Customers from Tier II and III cities are especially affected by these impersonation scams due to lack of awareness and limited access to reliable information sources.

To combat this issue, Upstox has initiated a comprehensive awareness campaign across multiple communication channels, which includes recurring email campaigns alerting new, active, and dormant users, in-app product banners alerting logged-in users, and frequent push notifications and social media campaigns.

The company has also shared crucial measures for investors to avoid falling prey to impersonation scams. These include checking broker legitimacy, being wary of unsolicited offers, verifying communication channels, protecting personal information, and reporting suspicious activities.

This comes at a time when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is tightening regulations on unregistered financial influencers. In a recent board meeting, the SEBI barred regulated entities from associating with unregistered finfluencers. The markets regulator is set to vote on norms to crack down on unregistered finfluencers at its upcoming board meeting.

SEBI has also been active in other areas of market regulation. It recently approved measures allowing Category I and II alternative investment funds (AIFs) to borrow capital for up to 30 days to meet temporary shortfalls. 

The regulator is also considering easing certain disclosure norms for listed companies, including giving them more time to publicly disclose litigations or disputes they are involved in.