Chandigarh, Sept. 10 -- The Haryana home department on Tuesday cautioned citizens about the proliferation of opinion trading platforms, also known as prediction markets.

Additional chief secretary, home, Sumita Misra said that the advisory is in line with a communication from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), highlighting the risks and legal ambiguities surrounding such platforms.

SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, in a letter, addressed to state government, has warned that these platforms often mimic legitimate investment services by using financial terminology such as profits, stop loss, and trading, thereby misleading users into believing they are engaging in regulated securities trading.

"These platforms are designe...