Borderless — parent company of Stockal Securities said DriveWealth has notified it about unauthorised trading activity in 13 customer accounts amid allegations that nearly 30 retail investors lost more than Rs 100 crore on the Bengaluru-based fintech platform.
The fintech platform which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and allows retail investors to buy US stocks and ETFs through US clearing broker DriveWealth LLC said an unauthorised third party appears to have accessed 26 accounts using valid login credentials and in 13 accounts, largecap holdings were sold to buy microcap securities with no funds withdrawn.
“Our investigation has found no evidence of a breach or compromise of the Borderless platform. We have engaged independent cybersecurity specialists. We believe affected account holders may have been victims of social engineering,” Borderless said and added that that assistance does not constitute admission of liability.
Meanwhile, domestic brokerage HDFC Securities also clarified that it is not named among accused in FIR registered in connection with alleged fraud.
In an exchange filing, HDFC Securities said, “We have seen the recent report by Moneycontrol referring to Stockal and the FIR. To set out the facts, the report itself notes that HDFC Securities is not named among the accused in the FIR.”
The brokerage said its operational partnership with Stockal for ‘globalinvesting.in’ launched in 2019 ended in 2024 and stressed customer trust and regulatory compliance remain central. It said it will cooperate with regulators as required.
These statements come after a Moneycontrol report has showed that nearly 30 investors saw unauthorised access in October with holdings in Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia and AMD liquidated and proceeds used to buy thinly traded Chinese stock Zhibao Technology Inc. (ZBAO) which later fell 60 per cent.
Moreover, DriveWealth — in a letter dated October 30 to an affected investor — said unauthorised access occurred in interface with Stockal and security lapses are owned by Stockal.
“The unauthorized activity did not initiate at DriveWealth. DriveWealth is not at fault,” it said, adding accounts were frozen on Stockal’s instruction.
The case has prompted investors to approach Sebi and US SEC, while investigation into account access and execution of unauthorised trades is ongoing.
