New ‘1600’ Phone number series to combat securities market fraud

The Business Factors News Desk

Mumbai, April 08, 2025: In an effort to enhance investor protection and curb financial fraud, SEBI has advised its regulated/registered entities to comply with the latest guidelines by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 
“Specifically, all regulated/registered entities are advised to only use the ‘1600’ phone number series exclusively for service and transactional voice calls to their existing customers,” SEBI said in an official statement.

Investors should note the  new’1600’ phone numbering series to easily identify and attend service and transactional calls from SEBI-regulated/registered entities,  thereby enhancing investor security and minimising the risk of fraud by unscrupulous entities using regular 10-digit numbers.

Investors can report any Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) or suspected fraudulent activities as under:
In case of receiving spam or  UCC,  make a  Do  Not  Disturb(DND)  complaint through your telecom service provider’s app or website (e.g., Airtel, Jio, Vi, MTNL, BSNL, etc.), use the TRAI DND app, or call/SMS 1909.

In case of receiving suspected fraud communication, report to the Chakshu Platform of the Department of Telecommunications(https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/).

In case fraud has already happened,  report the same to the Cyber  Crime helpline number 1930 or website www.cybercrime.gov.in.