Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey warned that rising investment frauds threaten first‑time retail investors, and unveiled Project Jagruk in Chandigarh on Monday. The regulator said that many scams masquerade as legitimate securities deals, siphoning money through mule accounts before victims realise their loss. Pandey highlighted that the surge in fraud coincides with a 63% gap between investor awareness and participation in the market. He urged investors to verify that any platform is regulated before sending money.
According to a SEBI survey cited by Pandey, only 9.5% of households actually trade in securities, while 36% possess only moderate or low market knowledge. Rural investors lag behind urban ones, with participation at 6% versus 15%. The campaign will therefore focus on tailoring messages to diverse linguistic and demographic groups.
SEBI has rolled out a verification tool on the Google Play Store and a dedicated SEBI Check portal to help investors confirm a firm’s regulatory status. The new WhatsApp channel will initially broadcast alerts, but the regulator plans to make it interactive over time.
Project Jagruk will launch in eleven regional languages, reaching audiences through television, print, radio, cinema, outdoor media, digital platforms, and social media. The initiative brings together SEBI, the Association of Mutual Funds in India and the National Institute of Securities Markets for a coordinated education push.
The rollout will commence this week and continue until March 2027, with SEBI partnering with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to take financial literacy to rural villages. Universities and colleges will host a national securities market awareness curriculum and a free SEBI investor test.
The next phase will involve measuring the campaign’s impact on fraud incidence and expanding the WhatsApp channel’s interactivity. SEBI expects the program to reduce the 63% awareness gap and protect the growing base of 15 crore unique investors.