Admiral Markets, a multi-regulated FX and CFDs brokerage firm, on Monday, warned investors of fraud attempts involving individuals posing as Admiral employees in order to gain sensitive information or steal money.
The fraudulent scheme mainly focuses on Latin America and involves a phone call or email offering potential clients managed accounts on behalf of Admiral Markets, a product that the company doesn’t support.
The fake staff contacted clients registered with other broker websites to request trading deposits, and by email to send client agreement forms for completion, which prompted action from the regulated company. Admiral Markets confirmed that it has no association whatsoever with the aforementioned scammers and advised everyone to avoid it entirely.
The alert notes that "clients should be aware that Admiral Markets does not offer managed accounts, nor do we authorise third parties to manage accounts for our clients."
Admiral Markets expands ‘real’ offering
The fraudulent scheme is indeed attempting to mislead investors into thinking that it is offering a legal product by using the details of an authorized firm operating under a similar name. It also claims to be licensed by the FCA, using the regulated firm’s registered address and making reference to its actual website, a typical move for a scam company to gain the trust of unsuspecting clients.
The original company, Admiral Markets (UK) Ltd, is licensed by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer a set of financial services and also approved to provide cross-border services across the EU / EEA under European passport rights.
Admiral Markets’ offering has seen dramatic additions in the past few months. The Estonian-based firm has recently increased its lineup of Exchange -traded fund (ETF) derivatives for its Admiral.Invest account type, with the addition of 177 new CFDs.
In its statement, Admiral Markets was keen to spell out to investors the risks of dealing with fraudulent providers. It further stated: ”Any other unauthorised persons, companies or websites using the Admiral Markets brand for fraudulent activities, not only break the applicable laws, but also do not comply with the basic rules of investor protection, information disclosure, claims handling and other regulatory Obligations .”
