Mumbai, Feb 27 (IANS) Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has flagged a surge in frauds involving fake securities transaction tax (STT) notices and “account handling” services that promise risk‑free profits.

The regulator said fraudsters have circulated fake notices demanding payment of outstanding securities transaction tax (STT) liabilities, often using forged SEBI letterhead, logo and seal and falsely claiming powers conferred by the SEBI Act, 1992.

SEBI also warned about “PMS service providers or expert fund managers who claim to help investors to make risk free profits in their demat or trading account,” in another statement.

They exploit investors by showcasing trades done by them for other investors in which they claim to have generated substantial profits, the regulator added.

Further, SEBI said STT is automatically collected by brokers at the time of each trade under the Finance Act, 2004 and it does not issue demand notices on STTs.

SEBI urged investors to verify any communication claiming to be from the regulator. Official SEBI emails come only from addresses ending in @sebi.gov.in, and enforcement actions are published on SEBI’s website, adding that online payments related to orders, settlements or recoveries should be made only through SEBI’s designated payment gateway.

The capital markets regulator also noted instances of fraudsters impersonating identities of SEBI officials, various offices of SEBI and email ids of SEBI officials. “Fraudsters are claiming to be officials of SEBI and sending a communication to entities using the letter head, logo and seal of SEBI,” the statement said.

Investors are advised to deal with only SEBI-registered intermediaries and through authentic trading apps, after verifying the status of registration of entities at the official website.

Recently, SEBI introduced the ‘SEBI Check’ mechanism where investors can either scan a QR code or manually enter the bank details of any SEBI registered intermediary to check if the UPI ID or bank account is authentic.

—IANS

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