Recently, the Financial Services and Market Authority (FSMA), a Belgian financial market regulator, marked 38 online trading platforms in the country that provide unlicensed services. This list includes foreign exchange FX, contract for difference CFD, and cryptocurrency trading brands.
According to FSMA's warning, unauthorized trading platforms use fraudulent advertising on social media, providing a way to quickly become rich and generate above average returns. Finance Magnates has checked the listed brands and their websites to confirm that a considerable number of them are still operating and providing services to retail customers.
The behavior of these platforms is very aggressive, "FSMA warned in a written statement. They often claim to have obtained authorization from fake financial institutions and display them to appear trustworthy. Fraudsters even try to persuade victims to allow them to remotely control their computers for certain remittances
The complete list of new fraudulent entities can be found on the official website of FMSA. 38 unlicensed platforms including Assets Access（ https://www.assets-accessltd.com ）A-trade International（ https://atrintl.com/ ）, BingX（ https://bingx.com/en-us ）Biteitgroup（ https://bitelitgroup.com/ ）Bitradercode（ https://bitradercode.com/ ）Common Investments（ https://commoninvestments.co/ ）Wait a minute.
FSMA reminds that the identity of the company must be consistently verified, including its name, country/region, and registered office. If the company cannot be clearly identified, it should not be trusted. Furthermore, it is crucial to confirm whether the relevant companies have the necessary authorization.
FSMA in Belgium regularly updates its warning list. Recently, it issued warnings against Webull clones and 20 other unlicensed platforms. By the end of 2022, regulatory authorities had discovered another 30 fraudulent websites, including a CoinDesk clone website.
The rise of counterfeit schemes involving legitimate authorities has become a common issue, and FSMA in Belgium has recently expressed concerns about such fraudulent strategies. Fraudsters use the names and logos of market regulatory agencies to deceive consumers and engage in unethical activities.
According to FSMA, these fraudsters impersonate employees of regulatory agencies and extend a helping hand to victims of investment fraud. They promised to recover a significant portion of the losses. In return, they used the well-known recovery room fraud strategy to demand fees from victims.
FSMA points out that any email from such addresses is fraudulent and not sent by FSMA. Regulatory authorities advise consumers who receive emails from these suspicious email addresses not to reply and delete them.
It is worth noting that FSMA is not the only financial market regulatory agency that is working hard to address counterfeit behavior. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has also issued several warnings against impostors who impersonate officials and fake websites. Regulatory agencies in the United States, New Zealand, and various other jurisdictions also face similar challenges.
