The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) issued a new warning today (Thursday) against nine unlicensed websites, which are offering retail traders access to foreign exchange (FX), contracts for difference (CFDs), and cryptocurrency trading. One of them is a clone of the popular Polish broker OANDA TMS.

CySEC Warns against OANDA TMS Clone and Others

Most of the websites found on CySEC's latest warning list are currently inactive. However, several of them are still operating and encouraging retail traders to open accounts, falsely stating that they have the necessary regulations to do so.

On the list of addresses including nylsinv.com, primusforex.net, tfimarkets24.com, afexeu.com, protechfx.com, forextimeltd.com, jfdtrade.net, ltdexxovo.com and ico-assets.com, special attention should be paid to primusforex.net. Its website resembles the domain of OANDA TMS, a Polish brokerage house providing services to retail traders.

"The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission ('CySEC') wishes to inform investors that the following websites do not belong to an entity which has been granted an authorization for the provision of investment services and/or the performance of investment activities," the regulator commented in the official statement.

The screenshot below shows the Primus Forex website:

On the next one, we see the original OANDA TMS website:

The above clearly indicates that, apart from the logo, the website has been entirely copied. Scrolling through the domain of the unlicensed broker and OANDA TMS confirms the suspicions that Primus Forex is a typical clone company. Clone uses the website of another entity popular in the industry, trying to mislead retail investors and encourage them to open accounts with it.

Fighting Clones and Unregulated Brokers

This is another warning issued by CySEC within the last month. In the second half of May, the regulator warned against the rising impersonation of regulatory officers and representatives.

It added eight more illegally operating FX/CFD platforms to its warning list in April. These included world-trade-center.io, financista.com, swiftpuprime.com, ocdfinances.net, and ocdfinances.org. The other three are inverbid.net, inverbid.com, and inverbid.co.

Also in April, CySEC added Berkshire Hathaway TX, a fraudulent platform offering crypto services, to its warning list. The name of the fraudulent platform resembles that of the American billionaire investor Warren Buffett's company.

Just yesterday (Wednesday), Finance Magnates reported that the UK’s FCA warned against a clone of another popular trading brand eToro. The day after, its Cypriot counterpart published a warning about the OANDA TMS clone. However, in eToro's case, the impersonator did not copy the entire website but used the company's license number instead.