The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ) issued a warning on Monday about a clone firm that is impersonating Rational Foreign Exchange Limited. According to the advisory, Crypto-Trade 365 allegedly uses the FCA-authorized firm’s legit details to scam people in the UK.
The website used for the purpose is www.crypto-trade365.com, and the watchdog is telling people to exercise caution when dealing with this clone firm. “Be aware that scammers may give out other false details or mix these with some correct details of the registered firm. They may change contact details over time to new email addresses, telephone numbers or physical addresses,” the FCA noted.
The FCA-authorized website to make deals under the name of the firm is rationalfx.com, the authority says. “This FCA authorized firm that fraudsters are claiming to work for has no association with the ‘clone firm,’” the British authority pointed out.
The clone firm’s website appears to be online as of press time, claiming to be a social trading platform.
The FCA issued the following warning as well: “If you use an authorized firm, access to the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS protection will depend on the investment you are making and the service the firm is providing.”
Recent Advisories Issued
Early this month, the UK FCA said that ETRADEFXLIVE, under the website etradefxlive.com, is not authorized by the FCA, and it is allegedly targeting people in the UK. “You will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), so you are unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong,” the watchdog warned.
The authority mentioned that ETRADEFXLIVE operated under the brand name ‘ETRADE FX LIVE,’ which might suggest that it could be a clone firm of the American financial services firm E*Trade, although the authority does not confirm this.
