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July 7, 2024

Binary Options Fraud: Recent Sentencing of Boiler Room Agent Sabrina Elofer in Yukom Scheme!

A few days ago, Israeli citizen Sabrina Elofer was sentenced to six months of house arrest by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in connection with the vast Israeli binary options fraud scheme Yukom Communications. As part of her settlement, Elofer has also agreed to pay more than $2.9 million in restitution. Binary options were banned in most regulatory regimes in 2017, but fraud schemes will keep the courts busy for longer.

January 17, 2023

What happened To Israeli Binary Options Mastermind Yossi Herzog?

The binary options industry was conceived in Israel as a gamification of the Forex industry. Forex for the stupid, it was. One of the masterminds and a member of our super villains' list was Yossi Herzog. Together with his junior partner Yakov "Kobi" Cohen, he launched, among others, the Yukom Scheme. While their former CEO, Lee Elbaz, and other managers were sentenced to prison and fines in the U.S., Herzog and Cohen are not available for the U.S. authorities.

January 15, 2023

Breaking: More Arrests In The Israeli $150 Millionen Binary Options Fraud Scheme Yukom!

The Times of Israel reports more arrests in the notorious binary options schemes operator Yukom Communications. Ori Maymon, Nissim Alfasi, Afik Tori, Oron Montgomery, Dave Barzilay, and Gilad Mazugi,, were arrested at the request of U.S. prosecutors. Their lawyers are fighting the extradition. Former CEO Lee Elbaz received 22 years of prison time and a $28 million restitution payments order. In March 2022, Elad Bigelman, former brand manager for BigOption, was sentenced to a 36-months prison term. The case will continue with a few more sentences, it seems!

May 5, 2022

Yukom Case – another Israeli sentenced to 36 months prison time!

Yukom Communications was the Israeli boiler room operator behind vast binary options scams BigOption, BinaryBook, or BinaryOnline and caused retail investors worldwide $150M losses. Elad Bigelman was the brand manager for BigOption. On March 14, 2022, Judge Paula Xinis handed a prison term of 36 months and three years of supervised release to Bigelman. It was the latest decision in the still-pending Yukom Case

April 23, 2022

Finally! US Prosecutors charge notorious Israeli lawyer Moshe Strugano with securities fraud!

Israeli lawyer Moshe Strugano, 52, is a greedy man always looking for more money. He was one of the facilitating lawyers of the fraudulent Israeli binary options scene. Scammers like Yossi Herzog, Kobi Cohen, Lee Elbaz, David Cartu, et al have run dozens of binary options scams worldwide, defrauding tens of thousands of consumers out of hundreds of millions. They could not have done this without the support of lawyers like Moshe Strugano. The US prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud and sought his extradition from Israel.

April 20, 2021

Chasing Scam Facilitators – The U.S. v. SpotOption, Yukom, GreyMountain Management, et al

Broker scams are like icebergs. You can see only the tip sticking out of the water, i.e., domain, website, offshore entities, and nominees a/k/a monkeys. Underwater or in the darkness of the Internet, the real perpetrators and facilitators are hiding. These scam-facilitators are white label providers, the boiler room operators, marketing and affiliate systems, and the payment processors. In the case of the Yukom scam, these were the boiler rooms in Israel and Mauritius, mostly Israeli payment processors, and the white-label operator SpotOption, which provided the software and trading infrastructure.

August 11, 2020

Looking for Israeli fraud kingpins Yossi Herzog, Kobi Cohen, and vanished Yukom Communications

The U.S. Government claims that Yossi Herzog, Kobi Cohen and their co-conspirators fraudulently operated the Yukom Scheme and defrauded tens of thousands of victims worldwide by some $150 million. The indictment alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators all worked the Israel-based Yukom Communications Ltd, a purported sales and marketing company owned by Cohen and Herzog. The company vanished since then as did Herzog and Cohen. Law enforcement wants them urgently.

August 10, 2020

Binary Options – Former Yukom CEO Lee Elbaz ordered to pay $28m in restitution, what about her masters?

The Israeli Lee Elbaz is a perpetrator and a victim. As former CEO of the binary options scam operator Yukom, she was found guilty of binary options fraud by a U.S. jury. The court sentenced her to 22 years in prison and now a $28 million settlement. Elbaz is a victim of her greed and wrong judgments in the first place. But for sure she is the victim of her 20 years older mentor Yossi Herzog, a notorious forex veteran, and the schemes owner, principal as well as its mastermind. He is also charged by U.S. prosecutors but remains at large. He needs to be tried to find justice for the victims.

July 18, 2020

Binary Options Fraud – UK authorities probe Israeli lawyer Moshe Strugano

Israeli lawyer Moshe Strugano, 50, was a busy man. He was and one of the lawyers for the fraudulent Yukom binary options scheme. It is well known that Israeli scammers have run myriads of binary options scams worldwide, cheating tens of thousands of small investors out of hundreds of millions. They could not have done this without the legal opinions of their lawyers. Strugano was arrested in early 2019 by City of London police and later released on bail.

July 7, 2020

Update: US Regulator CFTC v. Yossi Herzog et al

FinanceFeeds today reported that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a motion for entry of default against the alleged Israeli scam broker Yossi Herzog and a number of entities and individuals involved in the fraudulent activities of his Yukom Communications Ltd.

December 20, 2019

Yukom Binary Options Trial – Israeli Boiler Room CEO Lee Elbaz sentenced to 22 years prison term

In the sentencing, the US Judge Theodore D. Chuang says Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of the Israeli binary options scam operator Yukom Communications Ltd, was responsible for the targeting of elderly, vulnerable victims in the $140 million fraud. Yukom operated the boiler rooms behind the binary options scheme BinaryBook and BigOption. Elbaz, in turn, pointed her finger at her former principals, the Israeli Yossi Herzog and Kobi Cohen. Elbaz's defense line worked at least to a certain degree. She wasn't gieven the 34-year prison term the prosecutor asked the court for.

December 4, 2019

What the extradition of alleged Israeli broker scam perpetrator Gal Barak to Austria means for European fight against scams and cybercrime

Finally, it happened! Tens of thousands of scam victims in the EU have been waiting for this for months. EFRI has sent petitions to the..

TikTok Takedown: America’s Digital Iron Curtain or Silicon Valley’s Secret Weapon?

The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has sent shockwaves through the social media industry, upholding a law that could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. The ruling cited national security concerns. This decision marks a significant escalation in the ongoing tension between the U.S. government and Chinese-owned tech companies.

Truong My Lan: A Tycoon’s Fall from Grace and Vietnam’s $44 Billion Financial Scandal!

The dramatic downfall of Truong My Lan, one of Vietnam’s most prominent property magnates, has sent shockwaves through the country's financial and political systems. The 68-year-old former billionaire is at the center of one of the largest financial frauds in history, a scandal that has not only exposed vulnerabilities in Vietnam’s economy but has also highlighted the intricate relationship between business and politics in the country.

Cash Cow Crypto: U.S. CFTC Enforcement Sets Records in FY 2024 with $17.1 Billion in Monetary Relief!

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) achieved a landmark year in FY 2024, securing over $17.1 billion in monetary relief, including $2.6 billion in civil penalties and $14.5 billion in restitution. The agency’s groundbreaking actions spanned digital asset (crypto) markets, voluntary carbon credits, and major compliance cases, highlighting its leadership in safeguarding market integrity.

U.S. DOJ’s Whistleblower Pilot Program: 250+ Tips in Just Months!

Whistleblowers are the only effective way to fight financial crime. The U.S. DOJ whistleblower pilot program has already proven effective, generating over 250 tips of potential misconduct since its launch in August, according to Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller. According to a Reuters report, the initiative targets corporate malfeasance and encourages internal self-disclosure by companies.

Online Gambling: Lokinvestigation in Curaçao, its Maltese Connections, and How to Shut Down!

For many years, the far-far-away Curacao was the regulatory mecca of global online gambling. But that is over. The Lokinvestigation, spearheaded by opposition politician and forensic investigator Dr. Luigi Faneyte, reveals systemic failures and alleged corruption in Curaçao’s online gambling sector. With ties to Maltese investors and global financial networks, the report demands transparency but also carries political implications.