CySEC: Don’t Trust Us on TrustPilot.com
Scammers have shifted to public review websites like
TrustPilot and Google Business to impersonate representatives of the Cyprus
Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), misleading investors into paying
bogus fees, the regulator warned.
The increase in these fraudulent activities has now prompted
CySEC to issue a warning, urging the public to be vigilant and cautious when
approached by supposed CySEC officials.
Fake Representatives Demand Recovery Fees
According to CySEC, recent reports reveal a surge in
incidents involving individuals falsely claiming to be CySEC officers. These
scammers contact investors, often via email or fake online accounts, and demand
fees, promising to assist in recovering investment losses from CySEC-regulated
companies.
They reportedly exploit the trust investors place in CySEC as a
regulatory body, making it a particularly dangerous scam. CySEC emphasized in a statement released today (Friday) that it
does not contact individuals directly or request personal or financial
information.
“In these posts, users have reported incidents of
individuals posing as CySEC officers or representatives have contacted
investors, demanding fees in exchange for facilitating the recovery of
investment losses in companies regulated by CySEC,” the watchdog mentioned.
IMPORTANT WARNINGCySEC have been made aware of cases of individuals fraudulently posing as CySEC officers or representatives.Read more: here#CySEC #Scammers #BeAware #Investorprotection #investoralert pic.twitter.com/Vqa8Vt9gwJ
— CySEC – Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (@CySEC_official) November 8, 2024
The agency maintains that it has no mandate to collect fees
from investors or appoint third parties for such purposes. To combat the
growing trend of misinformation and fraudulent activities, CySEC will utilize social media listening tools.
Social Media Monitoring Tools
These tools monitor posts across multiple languages in
real-time, alerting the regulator to false or misleading content posted by
investment firms or so-called “finfluencers.” This capability reportedly enables the agency to take swift action against harmful marketing activities, protecting
potential investors from scams.
Notably, CySEC issued another warning in August about
the increase in financial scams perpetrated through multiple channels. The
regulator highlighted that fraudsters impersonate its officials, while other pretend
famous individuals and celebrities.
In a specific instance last year, CySEC flagged a fraudulent
Instagram account under the username cysec_cy, which had reportedly accumulated
over 14,000 followers.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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