Mumbai: In an effort to tackle the growing menace of investment fraud, HDFC Securities has unveiled ‘Kya Aap Taiyyar Ho?’, a nationwide CSR initiative under its flagship #KnowYourMoney program. The campaign, which blends cinematic storytelling with large-scale financial education, is designed to build financial literacy and resilience across India through online and community-based outreach.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, known for Dangal and Chhichhore, the campaign brings to life a unique “Fraudster Family” — a fictional yet realistic portrayal of how scammers operate. Featuring actors Manoj Pahwa, Bhuvan Arora, Sapna Sand, Shrikant Verma, Nutan Surya, Simran Shah, and Siddhant, the miniseries uses humor and familiarity to expose deceptive practices and encourage vigilance.
“When you see families losing their hard-earned savings to fraud, you realize awareness isn’t optional. It’s essential,” says Nitesh Tiwari. “Through our association with HDFC Securities’ #KnowYourMoney initiative, we’re using storytelling to help India escape the traps of investment frauds. This campaign is about empowering every investor to stay informed, stay ahead of the curve, and protect what they’ve built. Because in a fast-moving financial world, knowledge is the real safety net.”
The first two films in the five-part miniseries have already been released and can be viewed online. The initiative spans both online and offline channels, illustrating how financial literacy can be both informative and engaging.
Since its launch in early 2025, #KnowYourMoney has evolved into one of India’s largest hybrid financial literacy programs, covering topics such as banking, budgeting, retirement planning, and fraud prevention. Combining digital learning with ground-level engagement, the program currently reaches around 1.1 crore Indians every week through multilingual content and gamified learning modules available in 13 Indian languages.
“Investment fraud has evolved in scale and sophistication, and the only sustainable defense is awareness,” said Puneeth Bekal, EVP & CMO, HDFC Securities. “Through #KnowYourMoney and ‘Kya Aap Taiyyar Ho?’, we are creating a movement that enables Indians not only to secure their money but also to take well-informed financial decisions. The campaign leverages the power of entertainment in sparking learning and curiosity and putting the power of prevention in people’s own hands. Staying true to our 25-year-legacy, this is an ongoing effort to guide our investors to invest responsibly. This is not just a campaign; it’s a movement toward economic security.”
To expand its reach, HDFC Securities has partnered with Wagons Learning Ltd., EmpowHer India, and Access Livelihoods Foundation, ensuring the program’s coverage extends from urban centers to rural communities. These partnerships have led to structured financial literacy sessions across Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, and Karnataka, training over a thousand teachers and distributing thousands of learning kits. The initiative will soon extend to 14,000 colleges across 22 states via the Bharat Skills portal of the Directorate General of Training (DGT), with special focus on gig workers, women entrepreneurs, and domestic workers.
The campaign also includes several creative extensions designed to make financial awareness culturally relevant and easily accessible. Among them are a comic strip series ‘Bear and Bull’, published in four languages across national dailies, and a podcast series featuring leading financial journalists and influencers discussing real-life fraud cases and prevention strategies.
Offline activities are also planned, including the interactive ‘Scam or Not’ challenge game, college and community contests, an upcoming collectible card game titled ‘Investment Heist’, and a detailed handbook, the ‘Fraudster’s Dossier’, designed to help citizens identify and prevent scams.
“The concept of scamming seems like it was created by some computers and machines on the Internet. It’s not, it’s just a bunch of people who do it,” said Ayyappan Raj, Cofounder of The Script Room, who collaborated on the campaign. “The campaign idea was to humanize investment scams, making everyone relate to it and understand it, and therefore be aware of it in everyday life. In terms of treatment, we stayed away from the trending, quirky zone of advertising and chose a classic form of storytelling. Big thanks to Nitesh Tiwari and the team at EarthSky for making these scripts land so brilliantly and charmingly. Big hugs to the team at HDFC Securities for being great clients and collaborators.”
Further reinforcing its message, ‘Kya Aap Taiyyar Ho?’ features real stories of individuals who have identified and thwarted financial frauds — underscoring that awareness and vigilance are learnable and actionable traits.
Through this initiative, HDFC Securities reaffirms its 25-year legacy of empowering Indians through financial education, innovation, and trust. More than a campaign, ‘Kya Aap Taiyyar Ho?’ represents a national call to action—urging citizens to protect their wealth through knowledge and awareness.
