Scammers have shifted to public review websites like TrustPilot and Google Business to impersonate representatives of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), misleading investors into paying bogus fees, the regulator warned.
The increase in these fraudulent activities has now prompted CySEC to issue a warning, urging the public to be vigilant and cautious when approached by supposed CySEC officials.
Fake Representatives Demand Recovery Fees
According to CySEC, recent reports reveal a surge in incidents involving individuals falsely claiming to be CySEC officers. These scammers contact investors, often via email or fake online accounts, and demand fees, promising to assist in recovering investment losses from CySEC-regulated companies.
They reportedly exploit the trust investors place in CySEC as a regulatory body, making it a particularly dangerous scam. CySEC emphasized in a statement released today (Friday) that it does not contact individuals directly or request personal or financial information.
“In these posts, users have reported incidents of individuals posing as CySEC officers or representatives have contacted investors, demanding fees in exchange for facilitating the recovery of investment losses in companies regulated by CySEC,” the watchdog mentioned.
The agency maintains that it has no mandate to collect fees from investors or appoint third parties for such purposes. To combat the growing trend of misinformation and fraudulent activities, CySEC will utilize social media listening tools.
Social Media Monitoring Tools
These tools monitor posts across multiple languages in real-time, alerting the regulator to false or misleading content posted by investment firms or so-called "finfluencers." This capability reportedly enables the agency to take swift action against harmful marketing activities, protecting potential investors from scams.
Notably, CySEC issued another warning in August about the increase in financial scams perpetrated through multiple channels. The regulator highlighted that fraudsters impersonate its officials, while other pretend famous individuals and celebrities.
In a specific instance last year, CySEC flagged a fraudulent Instagram account under the username cysec_cy, which had reportedly accumulated over 14,000 followers.
