Front Page
My Featured Posts
Fighting Cybercrime – Indictment against WMOption, PrimeCFDs, Wisebanc, et al scammers!
Nikos Aristeidou, a Cypriot citizen, born in October 1958 and residing in Limassol, has been indicted together with one of his co-conspirators. According to the investigative findings of European law enforcement agencies, he allegedly operated an extensive network of scam brokers together with associates. These included WMOptions, PrimeCFDs, Wisebanc, CFD Royal, FXVIP, or Olympus Markets. Dimitrijus Jermosinas, a Lithuanian citizen, born in June 1892, is charged as an accomplice.
Latest Updates
A
Alert! FCA warns against social media boiler room operator Les Loups
It is well known that scammers use social media (SM) like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to attack the new generation of investors and acquire affiliates. In addition, instant messenger services such as WhatsApp or Telegram are increasingly used as virtual boiler rooms to lure in and defraud online investors. Regulators have also recognized this. The UK FCA issued a warning against SM boiler room operator Les Loups d/b/a TradWise a/k/a The Tipster (@iam_thetipster). Here are our findings.
F
Finally! BaFin investigates RichmondSuper broker scam!
FinTelegram has warned about RichmondSuper, Blueprint Capital, The Investment Center, Chelsea Investments, NostraCapital, Infinity Capital, Wellington Holdings, YorkCG, and many others. The German BaFin announced investigations against RichmondSuper, which is part of the same scam network, which operates on the broker platform offered by the FXVC group around Finteractive Ltd. Our research shows that the Belgrade boiler room operator Parogan used to operate these scams.
C
Consob Monday – Italian regulator orders black-out of five websites
Like clockwork! On 6 December 2021, Italian regulator Consob ordered the black-out of five new sites illegally offering financial services to Italian consumers. Since July 2019, the Italian watchdog has blocked 558 websites for the Italian market. Consob is currently the only European regulator that has this power in regulatory enforcement. It would be desirable if other jurisdictions also gave their regulators such authorization to fight scams more efficiently.
U
Urgent Alert! Do not lose your money with Bitcoin Wealth Investment
It's actually getting boring to issue warnings against crypto investment schemes several times every day. These seem to be spreading pandemically. The barriers to entry are non-existent for scammers. They fantasize about investment plans that promise investors staggering profits via algorithms and trading bots within days. Just like Bitcoin Wealth Investment (https://bitcoinwealthinvestment.com) does. Stay far away, please.
Payment Processors
T
Tredexo broker scam attacks European consumers!
The Tredexo (www.tredexo.com) broker scam is currently hunting for European victims. ABAX Inc., registered in St. Vincent & The Grenadines, is allegedly the scam operator that attacks victims in English and German. Through PaynetEasy's ShinePays cashier (https://gate.shinepays.com), potential victims can lose their money via credit and debit cards as well as Bitcoin deposits. Stay far away and keep your money.
W
Whistleblower campaign – Law enforcement and lawyers on the search for Vladislav Kogan
Vladislav Kogan was born in March 1973 in Krasnodar, Russia, and later emigrated to Australia. These are the dates in the criminal file. Kogan was the operator of the Czech and scam facilitators payment processor Xtrabit s.r.o. Which, among other things, supported the cybercrime organizations of Gal Barak and Uwe Lenhoff. FinTelegram reported on this, and Kogan sued for defamation and lost. He would have to pay the legal costs, but our lawyers cannot find him. He disappeared! Let us know his whereabouts.
A
Analysis – Prosecuting scam networks as criminal organizations
We have been analyzing the cybercrime investigations and indictments of the Austrian and German law enforcement agencies. Most recently, the public prosecutors' offices in Bamberg, Rostock, and Cologne caused a stir with action days in Israel, Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, and other jurisdictions. The respective law enforcement agencies investigate different cases but share their findings and coordinate their actions and charges. They do not prosecute individual scams but work on the hypothesis of criminal organizations according to §§129 and 129b of the German Criminal Code.
B
BaFin follows FinTelegram and investigates vanished RocketChart broker scam
In April 2021, we issued a warning against the RocketChart broker scam that wanted to catch victims via fraudulent marketing campaigns like BitQT. Also, in German-speaking countries. It took a few months before the German regulator BaFin announced an investigation into the scam, which has since disappeared. The investigation probably won't yield much insight, but it may be enough to file a report with the relevant law enforcement agency?
Cybercrime Court Cases
Regulatory Updates
C
Crypto Scam Alert! UK regulator warns against Bitcoin 24 Vantage FX, Crypto Prospect, and Bitfargo
Currently, we are falling over new crypto investment schemes every hour. They try to defraud consumers with sometimes absurd offers and promises. In recent days, the UK FCA has issued more than a dozen warnings against these crypto schemes. Most recently, the UK regulator has issued warnings against Crypto Prospect (www.cryptoprospecttradingfx.com), Bitcoin 24 Vantage FX (www.bitcoin24vantagefx.com), and Bitfargo (www.bitfargo.io). Stay far away.
W
Watch Out BaFin! Notorious high-risk payment processor Fibonatix goes Berlin!
This is perhaps not too good news for the German regulator. Fibonatix, founded by the Israeli Tal Miller, is a notorious high-risk payment processor. It has been facilitating dozens of broker scams. Fibonatix was also one of the payment processors of Gal Barak's cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria. Barak confirmed that in addition to Payvision, Fibonatix was laundering stolen funds. Fibonatix, regulated as a payment institution by the FCA since 2018, announced the opening of an office in Berlin. It plans to serve the put a specific focus on the DACH region!
W
Warning against a clone of CySEC-regulated CharlGate!
We recently reported a warning issued by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) against ATFX Global, a clone of the ATFX Group. Their companies are regulated in Europe by the UK FCA and the Cypriot CySEC. The operators of the fraudulent ATFX clone are apparently also running a clone of the CySEC-regulated CharlGate Ltd d/b/a FXVIEW (www.fxview.com). This fraudulent clone is working with the domain www.charlgate.net/eu. And it primarily attacks German-speaking consumers.
Support Scam Victims
Join the fight against cybercrime!
European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) is a non-government organization with the mission to support scam and cybercrime victims.
