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CySEC Tourism – More scams and victims of Maxigrid’s BitandBuy fraud facilitator identified
Sometime in April 2020, the discussion with Maxigrid started. A customer lost several hundred thousand Euros via the broker Scam RoyalsFX. He had made the deposits on the instructions of RoyalsFX via the BitandBuy crypto platform of the CySEC-regulated Maxigrid. He lost everything and involved FinTelegram in the complaint and shortly afterward BitandBuy disappeared without a trace. However, more scams and victims appeared after our Request 4 Information in June 2020.
Latest Updates
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Austrian FMA and other regulators warn against StarkMarkets broker scam
The Austrian Financial Market Authority FMA has issued an investor warning against the scam broker StarkMarkets (www.starkmarkets.com) which is allegedly operated by Krisimark Ltd and SWISSGEM Ltd in Sofia, Bulgaria. Already in June 2020, the Canadian British Colombia Securities Commission (BSC) issued an investor warning, and in July the New Zealand FMA (here). The scam facilitating payment processor is once again the Cypriot Praxis Cashier.
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BaFin issues cease and desist order against TheCapitalStocks and RoyaltyFinance
The German regulator BaFin has warned against the broker scams TheCapitalStocks (www.thecapitalstocks.com) and RoyaltyFinance (www.royaltyfinance.io) which are allegedly operated by Kleinman Enterprise Ltd in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Already in August 2020, the Italian CONSOB warned against these scams. Both are white label solutions of the Bulgarian Global CRM Solution Platform.
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Vienna Cybercrime Trials connected to JP Morgan hack and U.S. Indictment
Georgian-born Israeli Gery Shalon is the son of former Georgian MP and entrepreneur Shota Shalelashvili and the alleged mastermind in the largest financial hack in U.S. history (read DoJ press release). He was arrested in Israel in July 2015 and extradited to the U.S. There he stands in a kind of house arrest, waits for his trial, and is said to help U.S. authorities in their fight against Russia in a bid for leniency.
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Vienna Cybercrime Trials – Following the Money to former Vienna Stock Exchange CEO
The Israeli Gal Barak was sentenced to four years in prison in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials ("#VCT"). The court ordered that the seized funds and assets be used for restitution payments to the victims. Currently, this is a few million and thus only a fraction of the stolen funds. Millions of the Gal Barak's scams were processed via
the Austrian-Ukraine payment processor Fondy, which is controlled by the former head of the Vienna Stock Exchange Stefan Zapotocky.
Payment Processors
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Investor Warning – InvestActive as Global CRM Solution white-label scam
The Spanish regulator CNMV has issued an investor warning against InvestActive. The broker scam is currently operated under the domain www.investactive.io by Hanabishi Partners Ltd registered in the St. Vincent & the Grenadines. This entity has also been the operator of other scams such as FinFuture or Terra Invest and involved in other financial crime activities.
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Investor Warning – Bid Broker Stocks powered by Bulgarian Global CRM Solution
The Spanish regulator CNMV has issued an investor warning against Bid Broker Stocks a/k/a BBS. The Broker Scam is currently operated under the domain www.bid-broker-stocks.io by Donnybrock Consulting Ltd registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica. This also operates the Scam Energy Markets under the domain www.energy-markets.io. The Scam is operated as a white-label solution of the Bulgarian Global CRM Solution.
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Dear Bank of Lithuania – please explain your situation with International Fintech!
According to reports by Lithuanian journalist Vakaris Deksnys, the Bank of Lithuania has terminated the license of the International FinTech UAB of Israelis Eyal Nachum and Tamir Zoltovsky without providing a reason. It already happened in July 2020. No statement was given by the regulator on this matter as it would be necessary and required. That's a strange approach. How can a regulated company simply disappear form an EU regulator's list without further explanation?
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Binary options fraud – Notorious Cartu Brothers charged by U.S. CFTC
It is a court season for the fraudulent binary options industry and its perpatrators. Among the worst scammers were David Cartu and his brothers. After the Canadian regulator OSC had already sued them for binary options fraud, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action. The regulator charges six individuals and four companies with operating a fraudulent binary options trading scheme that received over $165 million via their Irish GreyMountain Management Ltd.
Cybercrime Court Cases
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Vienna Cybercrime Trials – Passionate law enforcement teams meet whistleblowers and EFRI
The Vienna Cybercrime Trials ("#VCT") have been an important step in the fight against scammers, cybercrime, and money laundering. The #VCT findings have also facilitated investigations and prosecutions in other jurisdictions and other scam cases. The first arrests in connection with the #VCT were made by EU arrest warrants issued by Austrian authorities. Thanks to the help of whistleblowers and FinTelegram. Now, leading EU investigative media like SZ report about the "Fall of the Wolf."
Regulatory Updates
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Another warning against PumaTS white-label scam BlueSave
After the UK FCA had already warned against the PumaTS white-label broker Scam BlueSave in July 2020, the Spanish regulator CNMV also issued an investor warning. The scam is operated under the domain www.bluesave.io via the Buen Solutions Ltd, a company registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The scam is still active as we have checked but the payment processors have changed.
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Spanish Watchdog CNMV warns against GlobalspotFX and Trade Com
The Spanish regulator CNMV has issued an investor warning against the scam broker GlobalspotFX (www.globalspotfx.com). The scam is allegedly operated by Trade Com Limited for an office in London. As a payment provider we have found the Russian PayeCards (www.payecards.com). Already in July 2020, the Italian regulator CONSOB had issued a warning against the scam.
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Join the fight against cybercrime!
European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) is a non-government organization with the mission to support scam and cybercrime victims.
