The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in its efforts to protect consumers against fraudsters and scam artists, has published a warning on its website on Tuesday against a clone of a regulated entity.
The British regulator has warned against Midpoint Exchange, which it states is a clone firm of the legitimate company Midpoint & Transfer Ltd, which is a currency exchange and international Payments platform.
In its warning, the authority has provided the details for the legitimate firm:
Firm Name: Midpoint & Transfer Ltd
Firm Reference Number: 610889
Address: 22-25 Portman Close London W1H 6BS
Telephone: 020 7448 3082
Email: info@midpoint.com
Website: www.midpoint.com
As the name suggests, clone firms are fraudulent entities which copy details of a legitimate firm, such as their name, website, address, registration details, etc. Some even go to the lengths of completely copying a firm – from their website, to brand, in order to trick investors into thinking that they are the actual legitimate firm.
FCA: be aware
“Be aware that the scammers may give out other false details or mix these with some correct details of the registered firm...This FCA authorised firm that fraudsters are claiming to work for has no association with the ‘clone firm,’” the UK watchdog said on Tuesday.
In its warning, the FCA gives the following URL as belonging to the clone firm www.midpointexchange.com. Following this link, you are taken to an entity which claims to be an investment platform.
Through the platform, Midpoint Exchange claims that it offers to trade in foreign exchange (forex), stocks, indices, Cryptocurrencies , and more.
“Midpoint is an international payments service offering it’s [sic] customers live mid-market foreign exchange rates via our patented matching technology. Unlike banks and brokers, we can eliminate the ‘spread or margin’ component from all transactions by directly matching client’s currency needs, saving customer’s money with every FX,” the entity states on its website.
