The next scam will not look like a scam

A fraud in 2026 does not look like a fraud at all. It looks like advice from a person you think you know, on an app that works.

This is World Investor Week, and digital deception is one of SEBI’s themes, so I asked Dhirendra Kumar to describe the enemy.

Four frauds doing the rounds

Start with the deepfake. A celebrity or a business leader appears with his own face and his own voice, and it is very hard to resist.

Then there is the WhatsApp or Telegram group. A friendly mentor shares claims of profits, and you start to feel you have gained access to a secret.

The fake trading app is the complete fraud. You transfer your money, your dashboard looks handsome, and only when you try to withdraw do you realise it was just a screen.

And the oldest promise of all, the guaranteed return. It comes from someone pretending to be an adviser, who takes a fee, takes over your account and makes a promise. Then the money disappears.

Why smart people fall for it

The scam is engineered for the moment, not for the mind, Dhirendra told me. Everybody else seems to be making money, you feel left out, and you decide you must do something.

It starts small. You put in a little money and it comes back with a profit. That, he said, is the trap. You believe it now, so you bet bigger. The first payout is the most expensive payout you will ever receive.

Education is no protection. He has seen engineers, doctors and chartered accountants fall for it. What protects you is a process.

Three questions before any money moves

Who regulates you? Banks answer to the RBI, mutual funds and stockbrokers to SEBI and insurers to IRDAI. “If nobody is regulating it, somebody will be taking your money.” Every regulated entity is registered, so look the name up.

What return is promised, and who is promising it? Nobody can really promise a return.

Why the hurry? Not a single investment avenue expires in a day.

Verification is not distrust, Dhirendra said. It is the paperwork for trust.

Ten minutes with the family

For resilience, the week’s other theme, Dhirendra gave me a sequence. Build an emergency fund, buy life and health insurance, and only then start investing. Term insurance comes before the SIP because a SIP can take 20 years to grow to the point where your family no longer depends on the cover.

He also wants every family to sit together for 10 minutes and do two things. If anyone has been pitched a scheme, discuss it and ask the three questions. Then make sure everyone knows the health cover, the term cover and the nominees.

An investment plan fails if your family cannot access it when they need it most.

Also watch: How to be a confident investor?