How-To · Cyber Fraud · Last verified October 2026
How to Report an Online Investment Scam (2026)
Online investment scams are now among the biggest sources of cyber fraud in India. The playbook is familiar: a slick trading app, a WhatsApp or Telegram group with "insider" tips, small early profits to build trust, then a push to invest more, and finally a wall when you try to withdraw. If this has happened to you, the first hour matters most, because fast reporting gives the best chance of freezing the money before it moves on. This guide sets out the immediate steps, where to report, when to use SEBI SCORES, and how to check whether the person or platform was ever authorised. It is general information, not legal advice. Last verified October 2026.
- Golden hour: call 1930 and file on cybercrime.gov.in at once, so the beneficiary account can be flagged for a hold.
- Tell your bank: dispute the transaction in writing and raise a UPI dispute in the app.
- SEBI SCORES: use it where a SEBI-registered intermediary is involved; verify the registration number on the SEBI site.
- Guaranteed returns: a red flag, because no registered adviser can lawfully promise them.
- FIR and EOW: lodge an FIR, and for a large or multi-victim scam approach the Economic Offences Wing.
01The short answer
Report an online investment scam in this order:
- Call 1930 and file on cybercrime.gov.in immediately, so the money can be flagged for a hold.
- Tell your bank in writing to dispute the transaction.
- Use SEBI SCORES if a SEBI-registered intermediary is involved, and check the registration number on the SEBI site.
- Lodge an FIR, and for a large scam approach the Economic Offences Wing.
Most investment scams are run by unregistered operators, so the cybercrime portal and the police are the main route; SCORES is for grievances against entities SEBI actually regulates. The single biggest factor in recovery is how fast you report.
02The golden hour
The first hour after you realise you have been scammed is often called the golden hour. Money moved by a fraudster is usually shifted on quickly through a chain of accounts. A report made within that window lets the system flag the beneficiary account so the bank can try to put a hold on the funds before they vanish.
So do not wait to "gather everything" first. Make the call and the online report straight away with what you have, and add documents as you collect them. Hesitation is the fraudster best friend.
03Report on 1930 and the cybercrime portal
For any financial cyber fraud, call 1930, the national cyber crime helpline, and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Give the transaction details, the accounts and UPI handles used, the app or website, and the phone numbers and profiles involved.
Keep the acknowledgement number. For the full reporting walk through, including what to keep ready and how it becomes an FIR, see how to report cyber crime and online fraud and how to file a cyber crime complaint.
04Tell your bank
In parallel, tell your bank in writing and ask it to dispute the transaction and contact the receiving bank. If you paid by UPI, raise a dispute in the payment app as well. The faster the bank acts, the better the chance of a hold on the beneficiary account.
Change your passwords and UPI PIN if you shared any credentials, and block cards if needed. Keep every reference number the bank gives you; it ties your report to the money trail that the cybercrime portal is trying to follow.
05SEBI SCORES and checking registration
If the scam involved someone claiming to be a SEBI-registered intermediary, such as an investment adviser, research analyst or broker, you can lodge a complaint on SEBI SCORES (scores.sebi.gov.in), the regulator grievance system. SCORES is designed for complaints against entities SEBI regulates, not for a pure fraud by an unregistered operator, which belongs on the cybercrime portal and with the police.
Before and after, verify the registration. Ask for the SEBI registration number and check it on the SEBI website. Genuine registrations follow set formats, broadly INA for investment advisers, INH for research analysts and INZ for brokers. SEBI has repeatedly warned, including in a circular dated 11 April 2025, that fraudsters pose as registered intermediaries using fake websites, forged certificates and cloned profiles. A promise of guaranteed returns is itself a red flag, because no registered adviser can lawfully promise them.
06FIR and the Economic Offences Wing
An online investment scam is a crime, so you can lodge an FIR at a police station, and a cybercrime portal complaint can itself lead to one. If the police where you live decline on jurisdiction, you can insist on a Zero FIR, which any station must register and then transfer.
For a large or multi-victim scam, such as a fake trading platform that took money from many people, the Economic Offences Wing of the state police is the specialised unit. Collective complaints from several victims often move faster and carry more weight.
07The offences involved
Investment scams attract several offences. Cheating by personation using a computer resource is an offence under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Plain cheating is an offence under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and cheating by personation under Section 319, the criminal code that replaced the Indian Penal Code.
Depending on the scheme, securities law and the offence of fraudulently inducing investment can also apply. You do not need to name the right section to report; the police and the portal classify it. Your job is to report fast and preserve evidence.
08Where Claw fits
Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.
Be clear about what Claw does and does not do here. The actual report goes to the cybercrime portal, the police and, where relevant, SEBI SCORES; Claw is not that filing and does not replace it. Where Claw helps is the dispute and case layer that follows: it tracks the resulting FIR led court matters, any consumer or banking ombudsman escalation, and appeals, across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, with alerts and monitoring, so a victim or an adviser can follow a prosecution or recovery matter as it moves. Its Legal GPT researches across 30 crore+ judgments, with Supreme Court decisions from 1950 and High Court decisions from 1990. Results return in under 5 seconds, and Claw does not train its AI models on your documents. To check whether a company or promoter behind a scheme has existing litigation, run a case search across Indian courts by name. A clean result means nothing was found on the forums and date searched, and this is general information, not legal advice.
Related reading: how to report cyber crime and online fraud, how to file a cyber crime complaint, and what to do after UPI or payment fraud.
09Sources and further reading
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (and helpline 1930): cybercrime.gov.in
- SEBI SCORES (grievances against registered intermediaries): scores.sebi.gov.in
- SEBI (verify registration): sebi.gov.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Report an active fraud to 1930 and cybercrime.gov.in at once.
10Frequently asked questions
How do I report an online investment scam in India?
Act fast. Call the 1930 helpline and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in straight away, so the beneficiary account can be flagged for a hold. Tell your bank in writing to dispute the transaction and raise a UPI dispute in the app. Save all evidence, including app and website links, chat screenshots, payment records and the numbers used. If a SEBI-registered intermediary is involved, also lodge on SEBI SCORES, and lodge an FIR with the police.
What is SEBI SCORES and when should I use it?
SCORES, at scores.sebi.gov.in, is SEBI grievance system for complaints against entities SEBI regulates, such as investment advisers, research analysts and brokers. Use it when a registered intermediary is involved. For a pure fraud by an unregistered operator, which most investment scams are, the main route is the cybercrime portal and the police, not SCORES. Either way, verify the registration number on the SEBI website, because fraudsters often pose as registered intermediaries.
Can I get my money back after an investment scam?
There is a real chance if you report within the golden hour, because the cybercrime system can flag the beneficiary account so the bank tries to hold the funds before they move on. The more the money has already been shifted through other accounts, the harder recovery becomes. Reporting to 1930 and cybercrime.gov.in at once, and telling your bank in writing, gives the best chance. Recovery is never guaranteed.
How do I check if an investment adviser is genuine?
Ask for the SEBI registration number and check it on the SEBI website. Genuine registrations follow set formats, broadly INA for investment advisers, INH for research analysts and INZ for brokers. Treat fake websites, forged SEBI-like certificates, cloned profiles of real advisers, and above all a promise of guaranteed returns as red flags. SEBI has warned, including in a circular dated 11 April 2025, about fraudsters posing as registered intermediaries on social media.
What offences does an investment scam involve?
Cheating by personation using a computer resource is an offence under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Plain cheating is an offence under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and cheating by personation under Section 319, the code that replaced the Indian Penal Code. Securities law offences can also apply to fraudulent inducement to invest. You do not need to name the section to report; the police and the portal classify it.