Beware of fake portfolio managers and advisors: how to check who you are dealing with (2026)

Every year, people in India lose money to someone who calls themselves a portfolio manager, a stock expert or an advisor, and who turns out to have no licence at all. The scammers use the same few tricks again and again. Knowing them, and knowing how to check a name in two minutes, protects you better than any tip.

How these scams usually start

• A message on WhatsApp or Telegram, or an invitation to a "free" tips or learning group, often with screenshots of other people's supposed profits.
• A call or message that says you were selected for a "VIP" or "premium" service, or an offer to manage your portfolio for a share of the profits.
• An ad or social media account that copies the name or logo of a real broker, or uses a video of a well-known person that has been edited or faked.
• A link to a trading app that is not on the official app stores, or a "special" IPO or block-deal allotment offered for a fee.

In many cases you are asked to send money to a personal account, to a different company each time, or to deposit funds into an app where a balance appears to grow. The balance is only a number on a screen, and withdrawals stop once the amount is large.

Who is allowed to give investment advice

In India, SEBI registers the people and firms that can take on these roles. The main categories are investment advisers (registration numbers usually start with INA), research analysts (INH), portfolio managers (INP) and stock brokers (INZ). A person who advises on or manages your money for a fee needs the registration that matches that activity. A tips group on a messaging app does not become legal because it is called "educational".

Portfolio management services are a regulated product with a high minimum investment set by SEBI, so an offer to "manage your portfolio" for a few thousand rupees should make you stop and check.

How to verify in two minutes

• Ask for the full legal name and the SEBI registration number, and say you will check it.
• Search the name and number on SEBI's official list of registered intermediaries on sebi.gov.in. Type the address yourself rather than following a link you were sent.
• Check that the registration is current, that its category matches what is being offered, and that the contact details on SEBI's list match the person contacting you.
• Do not rely on the number alone. Scammers copy real registration numbers, so confirm that the phone number, email and website match the official record.
• Look at who will hold your money. A real adviser does not need access to your trading password, and does not take your funds into a personal account.

Warning signs

• **Promised or fixed returns.** Markets cannot promise a result, and a registered adviser is not allowed to promise returns.
• **Pressure to act today.** Real advice can wait for a day while you check.
• **Payments to individuals or to a different account each time.** Fees to a genuine adviser go through proper banking channels to a named business.
• **Requests for your login, OTP, PIN or a screen-share.** No genuine adviser or broker needs these.
• **Only screenshots as proof.** Screenshots of profits are easy to fake and say nothing about the whole record.
• **A story that gets bigger.** A small early "profit" followed by requests for a larger deposit, then fees or taxes before you can withdraw, is a common pattern.

If you have already paid

• Stop sending money, even if you are told that one more payment will release your funds.
• Call your bank at once to report the transaction. The sooner this happens, the better the chance of stopping it.
• Report the fraud to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or call 1930, and keep screenshots, chat history, account numbers and transaction receipts.
• Complain to SEBI through its SCORES complaint system, and tell the broker or app involved if a real one was used.
• Do not pay a "recovery agent" who contacts you afterwards. This is a second scam that targets people who have already lost money.

Build habits that make you harder to fool

Scams work best on people who are not sure of their own plan. If you keep a record of every trade, why you took it and what it cost, you can see your real results and you are less likely to hand your decisions to a stranger. Free tools that use official data, such as the tools on this site, let you check ideas yourself instead of trusting a screenshot.

A short checklist before you trust anyone with your money

• Is the person or firm on SEBI's official list, in the right category?
• Do the contact details match the official record?
• Are you being promised returns, or pushed to act quickly?
• Is money going to a named business through a normal banking channel?
• Have you spoken to a friend or family member before paying?

If any answer worries you, stop and check again. Rules, portals and helpline numbers can change, so confirm the current details on SEBI's and the government's own websites.

This page is for information and education only and is not trading advice, legal advice or tax advice. Tradingraph does not offer advisory or portfolio management services and does not ask for your money, passwords or OTPs.