SEBI Cautions Public On Fake Letters Fraudulently Seeking Fines

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Wednesday issued a warning to the public regarding fraudulent communications falsely claiming to be from its officials.

The market regulator urged investors to exercise vigilance when encountering any communication that demands information or money on its behalf.

The statement was prompted by SEBI's observation that some individuals had received messages where the sender impersonated a SEBI official, even using the regulator's official letterhead, logo, and seal.

In a notice, the SEBI said in certain instances sender issued notices through social media platforms asking for payment of a fine to prevent the regulator from taking action against the recipient.

In another case, the SEBI found that the sender forged a sale certificate to show that he was a buyer of PACL property, and in another instance, the sender issued a fake certificate of use of third-party vendor account.

"The public is urged to exercise caution and to verify the authenticity of any communication that they might deem to have received from SEBI," the notice said.

The SEBI said that every order passed by it bears a unique reference number, and all the official communications used by it, such as letters, notices, show-cause notices, and summons issued by it have a unique document identification number.

All the orders, official communications and recovery certificates issued by SEBI are available on its website, it added.

The note of caution from the market watchdog comes days after it warned investors regarding Strata SM REIT, a SEBI-registered Small and Medium Real Estate Investment Trust , which has surrendered its certificate of registration.

SEBI had engaged with Strata SM REIT, its independent director, compliance and other officers, and the trustee after reviewing media reports and legal proceedings involving the entity's promoter. Based on these discussions, Strata SM REIT surrendered its registration under the SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations.

SEBI clarified that Strata SM REIT has not launched any SM REIT schemes or migrated any pre-existing fractional ownership entities under the SM REIT framework. It also stated that the entity should not represent itself as a SEBI-regulated intermediary.