The Dark Art of Data Theft on Fake Trading Platforms
Most investment fraud begins on social media. One can certainly find many advertisements there promising the world to those who are willing to try their luck. These ads take you to a website that vaunts the merits of a very interesting service: a trading platform, an app (artificial intelligence), a training course, etc. that enables you to get rich quickly and without risk! To do so, all you need is to fill out the contact form.
This is what might happen if you sign up:
1. A few minutes later, you will get a phone call from an “expert”;
2. The person on the line will reassure you and guide you through the various payment steps;
3. Next, you are put in touch with a “trader” who helps you open an account on an online trading platform;
4. This “trader” then tries to create a bond of confidence with you to encourage you to invest even more money;
5. You see your earnings rise rapidly, and the platform looks very professional;
6. Everything seems fine. You even manage to recover part of your earnings;
7. However, when you try to make subsequent withdrawals, unexpected problems emerge. You will have to pay unforeseen “taxes”, to which additional fees are added, and so on. And on and on;
8. You begin to doubt the legitimacy of this platform and tell the so-called “trader” of your concerns;
9. From that point on, the tone changes and your contact person starts to be threatening;
10. You are no longer able to reach him or her, or worse, you are subject to daily harassment;
11. In the end, you never recover the total amount invested.
The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has noted that victims of fraudulent trading platforms had entered their contact information on the following sites:
- Bit 2.0 Urex (https://the-bit2urex.com; https://bit2urex.com/)
- Bitcoin 360 Ai (https://bitcoin360ai.com; https://bit-indexai.com; https://the-bitcoin360-ai.com; https://bitcoin-360-ai.org)
- Bitcoin Bot (https://bitcoin-bot.app; https://bitcoin-bot-pro.com)
- BitiCodes (https://biticodes.com; https://the-biticodes.com; https://biticodes-app.com)
- Bitindex Prime (https://bitprime-gold.com; https://bitindexprime.org; https://bitindexprime.com; https://bit-indexprime.app; https://bit-indexprime.com; https://thebitindex-prime-app.com; https://thebitindex-prime.com)
- BitIQ (https://bitiq.app; https://bit-iq.co; https://bitiq.org; https://bitqt-app.net; https://bitiq.live; https://bitiqapp.com) - Bitsoft 360 (https://bitsoft360.com)
- Granimator (http://granimator.live)
- Immediate Connect (https://immediateconnect.net; https://immediate-connect.app; https://immediateconnect.ai)
- Immediate Momentum (https://immediate-momentum.com ; https://immediate-momentum.io) - Markets trends education (https://markettrends.education)
- Oil (Pro) Profit (https://oilproprofit.com; https://oil-profit.app) - Professor PIPS (https://professorpips.academy)
- ProMarket (https://promarket.academy) - Quantum Prime Profit (http://quantum-prime-profit.com) - Trade 2.0 Intal (https://500tradeintal.app) - University4Traders (https://university4traders.com)
For more information, please see our flow chart “Investment fraud: the ‘classic' scenario” as well as the page on “How to recognize and avoid fraud”. Please take a look at our awareness-raising videos (available in French and Dutch only).
This article was published in collaboration with The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA)
Image source: Unsplash.com
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