The Financial Commission, a self-regulatory compliance specialist for the financial services industry, is ramping up its scrutiny of unregulated brokerage firms.
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Today, the independent association warned against a company called ‘Forex Trading’ and its associated website, https://forexlive.co.in. Apparently, scammers behind this shady website are impersonating ForexLive, a provider of news and analysis for the financial markets, in an attempt to deceive people into handing over their hard-earned money.
Part of Finance Magnates group, ForexLive is a 24-hour source of news, analysis, and trading insights. It acts as a one-stop analytical and news outlet with a team of analysts and researchers who watch the FX, crypto and other financial markets throughout the day.
As impersonating brokers has become one type of investment scam that’s widely known, it is increasingly eclipsed by targeting other providers to entice victims. With the number of reports for this scam type on the rise, fraudsters are always changing ways in which they convince people to part with their money or sensitive information.
Global regulators say scammers are becoming ever more sophisticated, targeting victims with professional looking websites and messages through social media channels. The most commonly reported thefts involved investments in shares and bonds, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies.
Scammers are also using branding from legitimate, regulated companies and even cloned websites to solicit people to make investments. Once victims have registered their interest, they’ll be contacted by the fraudsters, who often obtain the names of genuine employees of investment firms and create seemingly legitimate company email addresses, but with very subtle changes. As such, even the most sophisticated of investors could be at risk of falling victim to a clone scam.
“Upon reviewing the submitted information from potential customers of this broker, the Financial Commission has determined that the indicated company and associated website may be used to scam and defraud traders and investors. As such, the Commission does not recommend doing business with this entity, either individuals purporting to represent this broker on social media and in private messages on popular messaging apps. Given this information, Forex Trading will be placed on the Financial Commission’s Warning List,” the FinaCom statement reads.
The Financial Commission has been sharpening its focus on retail investment and trading brokers in recent months. The regulator not only tries to protect consumers from FX scammers, but also has a dedicated tool to help cryptocurrency investors check if an investment opportunity is a scam.
Dubbed ‘Blockchain Warning List,’ the service provides information about the potentially damaging behavior of certain digital asset providers. The entries in this list include crypto exchanges and wallets suspected of conducting illegal activities depending on reports and complaints filed by their customers.