Sometimes it feels like the number of scams in the foreign exchange (Forex ), and cryptocurrency industries is never-ending. This Wednesday, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand, the government agency responsible for financial Regulation , has posted another warning on its website.
Today, the New Zealand regulator has flagged the website www.fuerfx.com, which it suspects might be operating a scam. On the website, the entity says the company name is FERN GROUP NZ LIMITED. The website is available both in English and in Chinese.
“We are concerned that www.fuerfx.com may be operating a scam. The website www.fuerfx.com is not associated with nor authorised by the New Zealand registered company Fern Group NZ Limited,” the watchdog said in the warning.
On the website, Fern claims to be a “global, fair and honest, people-oriented broker.” It alleges that it is headquartered in New Zealand and facilitates forex and contracts-for-difference (CFD) trading to global financial institutions, corporations, and individuals.
“FERN GROUP NZ LIMITED is a global foreign exchange investment and industry solutions provider based in New Zealand and regulated by the New Zealand regulator FSP (FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDER),” the website states. This statement is at odds with the FMA’s warning.
FX and crypto scams are on the rise
Scams within the financial industry, particularly in the FX and crypto sector, are on the rise. Only last week, the FMA flagged another entity which it deemed as suspicious - King Capital Management, an entity that claims to be a full-service financial brokerage company based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
As Finance Magnates reported, earlier this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that Brits lost approximately £27 million ($33.6 million) to FX and cryptocurrency-related scams in the 2018/2019 fiscal year.
According to the British regulator, authorities received 1,834 scam reports last year. That was almost a four-fold increase on the prior twelve-month period.
