CySEC issues warning over impersonation of its representatives

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has recently detected additional cases of fraudulent impersonation of CySEC Officers and representatives.

A CySEC announcement warned that, “Investors should be particularly vigilant of imposters soliciting fees in exchange for settlement of bogus compensation claims related to firms under CySEC supervision.”

The warning comes following an initial caution on 22 November, 2022.

“CySEC would like to remind the public that it never contacts by telephone or sends unsolicited correspondence to investors or members of the public, nor does it ever request any personal data, financial or otherwise,” the new warning says.

According to CySEC, these cases are part of a sophisticated online campaign to defraud investors.

Investors should be alert to these scams which in recent cases have taken the following form, according to CySEC. Initially, fraudsters claim to be CySEC officers, appointed representatives of CySEC, such as legal advisors, other Cypriot supervisory authorities or other real or fake bodies. The scammers have also been contacting clients of CySEC regulated entities, often via emails or/and by telephone, which appear genuine and include the telephone number, the name, address, official stamp, and logo of CySEC, fraudulently copying CySEC officials’ signatures. The fraudsters have been making false offers to assist investors with compensation claims for dealings they may have had with sanctioned firms - typically online trading firms offering speculative investment products. Through these preliminary contacts, the fraudsters illegally obtain additional personal information.

CySEC has issued multiple public warnings when similar cases occur, which are published on its website at:

https://www.cysec.gov.cy/en-GB/public-info/warnings/cysec/

“CySEC urges the public to remain vigilant of any unsolicited communication purporting to be from CySEC and to refrain from giving money to anyone who approaches them in a similar way to the examples given above. Investors are strongly advised to contact CySEC to confirm the authenticity of the communication by contacting info@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action,” the Commission warns.