Google & SEBI Verify Trading Apps on Play Store

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has partnered with Google to introduce “verified” badges for legitimate stock trading apps on the Play Store, aiming to clamp down on fraudulent trading apps and scamsters.

Under this initiative, SEBI-registered stock trading apps will display a “verified” label on the app marketplace. The badges will be extended to apps of other regulated intermediaries in the future.

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey stated that the collaboration aims to clamp down on bad actors in the investment space. Economic Times reported that nearly 600 financial services apps in India have already been assigned the verified label.

SEBI has taken down over 1.3 Lakh pages of content on various platforms and 66 fake trading apps. Pandey directed Google and Meta to collaborate with financial regulators for investor protection.

The collaboration addresses concerns related to the rise of fake investment apps. These platforms often mimic legitimate brokers and offer high returns before blocking accounts after large investments.

Recent incidents include a digital investment fraud syndicate in Delhi that defrauded a senior citizen of ₹22.67 Lakhs and a property dealer in Uttar Pradesh’s Faridabad who was duped of ₹17 Cr in an alleged investment app fraud case.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar informed the Parliament that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified proceeds of crime totalling ₹35,925.6 Cr in connection with 257 cybercrime cases.