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The Ukraine-Lithuanian Finmax scams still active with Praxis Cashier and Spanish partners
Finmax scams have been active since at least 2016. Various regulators and review sites have already issued numerous investor warnings. Nevertheless, the scam is currently active with at least two websites FinmaxFX (www.finmaxfx.com) and FinmaxBO (www.finmaxbo.com). The two Ukrainians, Olena Vakulenko and Oleksandr Vakulenko, coordinate the scams through various legal entities in Lithuania, Vanuatu, Seychelles and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. To date, despite all scam warnings at FinmaxFX, Praxis Cashier with the Spanish Redsys and Comercial Global Payments as payment processor is active.
Latest Updates
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Investor Warning – TradingNetwork broker scam with illegal payment processor Skylas
TradingNetwork broker scam is another white-label scam from one of the many scam factories. The scam is allegedly operated by Wabbit Group Ltd, which is registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica. We can now operate these scams almost blindly because the processes and procedures are all the same for these scams. Only domains, brands, and operators change. Also, the scam-facilitating payment processors are almost always the same. This time, we have discovered the illegal Lithuanian payment processor Skylas UAB again.
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Investor Warning – Universal Markets broker scam facilitated by Praxis Cashier
When analyzing the scams against which the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued an investor warning yesterday, two suspects stand out once again - Praxis Cashier as a payment gateway and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the given address of the scam operating entities. This is also the case with Universal Markets (www.umarkets.io, www.umarketspro.com, or www.umarketspro.net). The scam is allegedly operated by Universal Services LLC and/or UM Media LLC.
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Good Morning St. Vincent – Investor warning against Sky Capital Broker Scam
There are beautiful places that, unfortunately, are also associated with terrible events. For example, today's vacation paradise Vietnam will long be associated with the Second Indochina War. The Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the other hand, is notorious as one of the offshore centers through which cybercriminals and scammers have conducted their crimes via offshore entities. The Sky Capital broker scam (www.skycapital.cc and www.skycapital.co) operated by Geiko Holdings Ltd is one of them. With Cashir.Live and Paystruct as its payment facilitators.
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Investor Warning – Don’t fall for crypto scam FXoptionTrade
The UK FCA has issued an investor warning against the broker scam FXoptionTrade. This scam acts as a clone of the FCA-registered Tickmill UK Ltd (www.tickmill.co.uk). Allegedly, the trading is done via a trading bot achieving up to 15% ROI within just seven days in different investment plans. Bullshit it is! The only way to deposit is Bitcoins (BTC). The scam is sloppily made and a white-label solution from one of the many scam factories. In fact, you can find so many spelling mistakes and flaws that victims should not fall for it.
Payment Processors
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Investor warning against ProfitAssist broker scam with more than $20M damage to EU consumers
the Spanish regulator CNMV issued an investor warning against the broker scam ProfitAssist (www.profitassist.io) allegedly operated by Seabreeze Partners Ltd, which is registered in Roseau Valley in the Commonwealth of Dominica. We have identified the Russian Piastrix and the Lithuanian registered UAB Skylas as payment processors. Potential customer-victims of the scam may also lose their money via cryptocurrency deposits. On one BTC blockchain address, we uncovered that victims deposited $12M.
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German-Ukrainian Capital Letter Scam Group and its payment facilitators
German Capital Letter group operatees scams such as BrightFinance, SolidInvest, GFXRoyal, STSRoyal, STSCrypto, or GFXFinance. Various European regulators such as the FCA, BaFin, or the FMA have already warned and issued Cease and Desist Orders over the last months. The Italian Consob has ordered a blackout of the sites. Some scams are still active. Now the UK FCA issued a new warning. Praxis Cashier is still facilitating the GFXRoyal scam along with the Estonian AnyCach OÜ (d/b/a any.money).
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Illegal German payment processors Z.I.E natural edition, Maka Marketing, and their network
German BaFin issued cease and desist orders against Z.I.E natural edition and Maka Marketing. Both payment processors processed bank transfers from victims of several broker scams like easytrade55 or MarketsSoft. The British resident Aron Wertheimer is involved in both companies. He is a director of Maka Marketing and the liquidator of Z.I.E natural edition. Scam victims who used Z.I.E natural edition or Maka Marketing should file their fund recovery claim with these companies and Aron Wertheimer and his partners.
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High-Risk Payment Processors Series and the dark side of finance
Undoubtedly, high-risk payment processors (#HRPP) are at the very center of cybercrime and scams. Very often, they facilitate consumer fraud and related money laundering. In early September 2020, Gal Barak was sentenced to four years in prison for investment fraud and money laundering in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials (#VCT) for operating a global scam broker network. A breakthrough in the fight against cybercrime. the forensic analysis of banking and financial data by law enforcement, the trial findings, and the court's reasoning in the verdict also allow investigating the anatomy of high-risk payment processors.
Cybercrime Court Cases
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Bravo! Serbian boiler room perpetrator extradited to the United States to stand trial
According to an announcement of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian Antonije Stojilkovic, 32, has been extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on allegations that he and his co-conspirators defrauded investors out of more than $70 million in binary options and crypto scam schemes. The Serbian police arrested Stojilkovic on July 24, 2020. Stojilkovic consented to extradition, and he was consequently extradited on Feb. 4, 2021. It's about time to crack down on the vast Belgrade scam scene.
Regulatory Updates
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Another warning against Max Capital scam FinMax and its mutations
Regulators have warned against the FinMax scams already. In Jan 2019, the German BaFin warned against the mutation FinMaxBO and issued a Cease-and-Desist Order today. In Oc 2020, the Spanish CNMV warned against the mutation FinmaxFX. The scams are operated by Max Capital Limited, Vanuatu, and Gatelinas UAB, Lithuania. Although Max Capital is licensed by the VFSC, it's not authorized to scam anybody. As scam-facilitation payment processors, we have uncovered Webmoney, Jeton, VLoad, advcash, and Aveia.
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Whistleblower business – SEC awards more than $4.7M in four cases
Whistleblowing has long since become a billion-dollar business in the United States, involving whistleblowers, lawyers, and private investigators. It is a lucrative business. Over the last seven days, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced awards totaling more than $4.7M. The SEC has awarded approximately $752 million to 138 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012.
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European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) is a non-government organization with the mission to support scam and cybercrime victims.
