The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is once again drawing the public’s attention to the dangers posed by fraudulent trading platforms. These platforms lure investors online with promises of quick and easy earnings. Their offers look attractive, but they are nothing more than advanced scams that can lead to significant financial losses.

How does a fraudulent trading platform work? (flowchart)

Modes of contact
Fraudsters use various techniques to contact their targets:
- a fake advertisement which mentions a celebrity;
- a website intended to ‘recruit’ victims;
- a fake profile on social media or on a dating app (Tinder, Bumble, Happn, …);
- a message that you have received allegedly by accident (SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, …);
- an invitation to join a trading group (e.g., on WhatsApp or Telegram);
- an acquaintance invites you to an investment opportunity with high returns.
In each case, the platform tries to lure investors by promising them to earn money in a very short time, often well beyond the sorts of gains that are actually achievable.
Registration
Interested investors register on the platform and deposit funds to their trading account. Generally, investors begin with a relatively small sum, such as 250 euros. Sometimes the swindlers offer to help their victims by taking over their device remotely in order to make certain transfers on their behalf. This allows them to install viruses or spyware.
Manipulation and pressure tactics
Once the funds have been deposited by the victim, the platform manipulates the transactions to give the impression that high profits have been achieved. However, these earnings are fictitious and the funds have not really been invested. The fraudsters then put pressure on their victims to invest more money. They do so by means of repeated phone calls, time-limited offers to which investors must respond quickly, or by issuing threats.
Withdrawals seem impossible
To gain victims’ trust, fraudsters sometimes allow them to withdraw several times. However, once an investor wishes to withdraw a larger amount, the fraudsters make excuses to avoid to pay back any money (high costs, taxes, etc.).
The FSMA also noted that some platforms used a pyramid structure. The investors are encouraged to recruit new participants. Their investment allows to pay earlier investors. When it becomes impossible to recruit new participants the pyramid collapses.
In all cases, the fraudulent platform disappears completely, taking with it all the investors’ money.

The FSMA has noted that the following websites were putting consumers in contact with fraudulent trading platforms:

Blackrose Finbitnex (blackrosefinbitnex.com, blackrose-finbitnex.com, blackrosefinbitnexai.com) ;
Dexlink, Repère Dexlink (repere-dexlink.com) ;
FlandrexBit (flandrexbit.com) ;
Fyronex Driftor GPT (fyronexdriftor-gpt.com, fyronexdriftor-gpt.net);
Pagtrix AI (neo-profit-ai.com, pagtrixaiapp.com, quantum-ai-trading.nl, qumasai.org).

The FSMA strongly advises against responding to offers made by the following trading platforms:

Blaxton (blaxtongroup.com, vc.blaxtongroup.com);
Cyrosalnix (cyrosalnix.com);
EQUITY T S PTY LTD (Clone) (equityts.com, live.faralloncapitalgroup.investments, wayatrading.com, wayatrading.trade);
Fibovest (fibovest.com);
Fintrionyx Capital (fintrionyx-capital.co, webtrader.fintrionyx-capital.cx);
FTMX Global (ftmxglobal.com);
Galveston Advisory (Clone) (galvestonadvisory.com);
Glenstone Advisory (Clone) (glenstoneadvisory.com);
Interactive Markets (interactive-market.net);
London Bridge (londonbridge.ai);
Luxenrise (luxenrise.com, trading.luxenrise.com);
Monexahollding
NeoWaySolution (neowaysolution.net);
Picktan Capital (Clone) (picktancapital.com);
Primeber Group (primebergroup.com);
ProTradeAlliance (protradealliance.com);
Quantoria Markets (quantoria-markets.net);
Richmond Terrace Capital (Clone) (richmondterracecapital.com);
Signal-Markets (signal-markets.com);
TheAdvisorSynergy (theadvisorsynergy.com).

The FSMA added these entities to the list of fraudulent trading platforms. Beware, this list is not complete, but is updated frequently. If you wish to verify whether a company has the necessary authorisations to offer financial services and products, please consult the page ‘Check your provider’. In case of doubt, contact the FSMA.

II’ve fallen victim. What should I do?

Stop making any transactions and break off all contact with the platform: don’t deposit any more money and don’t provide any additional personal or financial information. Break off all contact with the fraudsters. They may try to manipulate you in order to take even more money from you. If you were added to a trading group, leave it as soon as possible.
Contact your bank: inform your bank immediately if you have made any payments to the fraudulent platform.
Report the fraud to the competent authorities: Contact the FSMA and file a complaint with the police.
Document all exchanges of data and transactions: gather all evidence of your exchanges of data with the platform, including emails, messages, account statements and screen shots of the transactions. These items will, of course, be very valuable when you report the fraud.
Beware of ‘recovery rooms’: fraudsters contact victims of a previous scam and offer to help them –...

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