Another Forex broker has had their website hacked by forgers. Last month we reported about BT Prime, this time around a Chinese website mimicking London based Tradenext has been created. Unlike with BT, the current copies aren’t near exact clones with just contact and Regulation data being copied. (link to the Chinese Tradenext site) The site came to notice after a prospective client called the London office to verify Tradenext’s credentials.
The goal of these sites is to confuse prospective traders to fill out account details which include bank and credit card data. We suspect that the clones are part of a trading fraud operation where a scammer will portray to be a money manager or trading advisor and direct people to the fake sites to make a deposit.
Mohsin Jameel, CEO of Tradenext told Forex Magnates that he was concerned about the matter, he says “in this era of advanced technology and information flow, I’m surprised how firms can attempt such misuse, I am pleased that this matter has come to light and our compliance team is addressing the issue”.
Depending on the type of website, brokers can fight back. For fake sites with a domain such as .co.uk or .com, brokers can file a dispute with a domain dispute resolution firm such as Nominet DRS and make a claim that their name and trademarks were infringed.
Beyond the disputes, the other way to combat these fake sites is to increase awareness that these websites exist and that it is a red flag if any broker asks for credit card or bank details on their first page of registration for new clients. The incident shows how vulnerable the industry is at large, firms will have to dedicate additional resources on ‘searching out’ potential copy cats.
(Image courtesy of Deviantart)
