The Hong Kong subsidiary of Japanese-originated broker Rakuten Securities has warned against impersonators who use the company's name, logo and contact details to solicit traders to open trading accounts.

Rakuten Warns Against Impostors

On Monday, Rakuten Securities Hong Kong Limited informed the public it is receiving a growing number of inquiries regarding rogue entities who deceive retail traders and try to pass themselves off as representatives of a regulated brokerage firm.

"Rakuten Securities Hong Kong Limited ("Rakuten Securities HK") received the inquiries regarding outlaws are using the name/logo of Rakuten Securities HK and impersonated our staff, intentionally to solicit others to open an account for investment, engage in regulated activities without license, commit fraudulent activities," Rakuten Securities HK stated in Monday's release.

In order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of investors and Rakuten Securities HK, the company reminded the official address of its website (sec.rakuten.com.hk) and provided links to its trading apps and MT4 authenticator.

"We are very concerned about criminals who impersonate our company and its employees to deceive the public, intending to mislead the public in order to seek benefits. We reserve the right to pursue legal responsibility for the relevant behaviour and related persons," the company added.

Retail Trading: Attack of The Clones

Companies that impersonate other licensed entities or their representatives are referred to as clones. A clone firm typically poses as a well-known trading brand in order to lure unsuspecting customers. This may involve adopting a similar name, replicating the website layout, or even engaging in identity theft by using identical address details and license numbers.

Unfortunately, such actions are not uncommon in the retail trading market. Recent months have shown that Rakuten Securities is not the only company or market regulatory watchdog to have issued a similar warning.

At least three European regulatory bodies warned against clone websites and entities only last month. The Financial Services and Markets Authority, Belgium's financial market regulatory watchdog, flagged a clone of Webull, a popular US trading platform for retail investors.

CySEC published a warning regarding the activity of an unregulated cryptocurrency firm, IMS Crypto. According to the Cypriot regulator, the entity falsely claims to possess a CySEC trading license, using the details of the authorized company. In the meantime, the British FCA warned against AXI Corp Limited', a clone firm of the registered forex and CFD broker Axi and its sister company, One Financial Markets.

The regulatory body flagged down several clone websites and companies impersonating registered brokers under FCA's supervision in 2022. One such incident occurred in July when the financial markets supervisor raised an alert about a clone website posing as Zenfinix, a London-based FX and CFD broker. The regulator highlighted that the clone firm was attempting to defraud investors in the UK.