The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to the public regarding a clone firm operating under the names Expotoro, Tratoro, and PayBack Toro. The fraudulent entity has been falsely claiming to be an authorized firm by the FCA, engaging in unauthorized financial services activities.

Identifying and Avoiding Clone Firms in Financial Services

The FCA has emphasized that this clone firm operating under Expotoro/Tratoro/PayBack Toro are not authorized by them, and individuals should exercise caution when dealing with any entity claiming to represent these names. Clone firms often use deceptive tactics, including providing false contact details, email addresses, telephone numbers, and even postal addresses. These fraudulent entities may also attempt to mimic the details of legitimate authorized firms, such as in the case of eToro.

The authorized firm, eToro, has no affiliation with the clone firm. The FCA advises the public to verify the credentials of any financial service provider and cross-reference information with the FCA's official records. The organization further emphasized to exercise due diligence and to report any suspicious activity to the FCA.

Clone firms often adapt and may change their contact details over time, making it essential for individuals to stay vigilant and regularly check the FCA warning list for updates on unauthorized and clone firms.

We’ve issued 52 new #FCAwarnings to unauthorised and clone firms in the last 7 days.

Protect yourself and find all recent warnings https://t.co/0qLeqfKYJ0 pic.twitter.com/Gbwh1noXti

— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) November 17, 2023

CNMV Identifies ExpToro's Deceptive Similarity to eToro

In an earlier report, Finance Magnates wrote that the Spanish Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) had flagged eight entities for unauthorized activities in the FX/CFD and crypto services realm, potentially posing risks to retail clients.

The newly listed entities, including Easy to Invest, El Comercio IX, Etora Grand, Pivotal Coin Net, Thor FX, Tools4Deals, Xifra Global, and ExpToro, lack the necessary licenses to operate in these financial sectors, according to CNMV reports.

#CNMV releases new warnings, and one entity looks similar to @eToro. Beware the potential #clone! pic.twitter.com/zfF8oNrP7i

— Damian Chmiel (@ChmielDk) November 13, 2023

ExpToro, in particular, has drawn attention due to its name's striking similarity to eToro. The CNMV has warned that ExpToro may fall into the category of clone firms, utilizing similar names and visual elements to reputable platforms in order to confuse investors.

This warning follows recent alerts by the CNMV, including one about Bits Panda, impersonating Bitpanda, a cryptocurrency platform. Furthermore, the regulator has added four FX/CFD market entities to its warning list in the past week.