The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) has warned consumers today that it has become aware of a scam, where individuals or entities are illegally impersonating the regulator.
The most recent case that has come to the attention of CySEC is a person claiming to be Fabir Mayer. According to the statement, MMayer tries to convince recipients that they may have suffered losses and attempts to make them pay for legal fees to participate in a fake aid program.
CySEC warns that the impersonator has used the CySEC logo without authorization. The regulator also clarified that it does not authorize, verify, monitor or is in any way involved in Payments between natural or legal entities, or any agencies.
According to the statement: “CySEC would like to stress that it is not connected in any way with the above-mentioned person and that it never sends unsolicited correspondence to investors or members of the public requesting their personal and/or bank details and/or that they make any sort of financial transaction.“
CySEC urges if anyone believes they have been contacted by a representative of the regulator that has acted similarly as explained above, then they should contact CySEC or report the case to the police.
Fraud prevention
This is not the first time CySEC has been illegally impersonated. In fact, this has happened on six occasions since 2015. Often, the individuals or entities committing the fraud contact investors or firms usually via email. The emails will often feature the regulator’s name and logo.
CySEC outlines the typical behaviour of the fraudsters as such: “these entities or individuals contact investors that are clients of various supervised or other firms usually via email and, using the name and logo of CySEC as well as other untruthful contact information, promise to 'assist' said investors in receiving compensation for potential damages incurred during their cooperation with the aforementioned firms, in exchange for a legal fee or other expenses.”
CySEC again urged the public to be vigilant. The regulator reiterated that if a consumer is ever in doubt about the authenticity of a request from a representative - particularly if they are asking for money - to contact their email info@cysec.gov.cy.
