Mumbai, Feb 26 (IANS) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday warned investors to stay alert after reports of fake notices demanding payment of securities transaction tax (STT).
In a statement, Securities and Exchange Board of India said that some fraudsters are misusing its letterhead to send false notices to investors.
These notices claim that investors have pending STT dues under the Finance Act, 2004, and wrongly state that Sebi is using powers under the Sebi Act, 1992, to collect the money.
The regulator clarified that it never sends notices to investors asking them to pay STT.
It also said that it does not work with the Reserve Bank of India for collecting such taxes. SEBI explained that STT is automatically charged on every buy and sell transaction done on stock exchanges and is collected directly by brokers at the time of the trade.
SEBI also pointed out that scammers are impersonating its officials by using their names, job titles, and fake email IDs that closely resemble official Sebi email addresses.
These tactics are being used to make the fraud look genuine and mislead investors into sending money.
Earlier this week, the National Stock Exchange issued a similar warning.
The exchange said it had noticed fake communications using Sebi’s letterhead to demand STT payments. The NSE urged investors to remain cautious and not respond to messages that claim to be from Sebi officials and ask for money on the regulator’s behalf.
Separately, SEBI also raised concerns about a rising number of scams related to so-called “account handling” services. In these cases, individuals pretend to be trading experts, portfolio managers, or fund managers and promise guaranteed or risk-free profits.
SEBI warned investors not to believe such claims and advised them never to share their trading account details with anyone.
The regulator stressed that these account handlers are not registered with Sebi and are not authorised to provide any investment or portfolio management services.
–IANS
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