There is a continuing increase in cases where individuals falsely present themselves as representatives of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CSE), both via email and with fake profiles on online platforms, and the public is urged to be vigilant, the Commission said in a statement.
It notes that these individuals fraudulently present themselves as officers or representatives of CySEC and approach investors, demanding payment of a fee in exchange for an alleged settlement of losses suffered by investors in the context of their cooperation with entities under the supervision of CySEC.
In view of this, CySEC considers it appropriate to remind the public that the Commission never communicates by telephone or sends unsolicited correspondence and does not request personal, financial or other information. Investors are encouraged to contact CySEC to confirm the authenticity of communications, by sending an email to info@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action, as well as to inform CySEC of any suspicious activity that comes to their attention.
It also reminds that genuine emails from CySEC include addresses ending in cysec.gov.cy – although there have been cases where scammers have also copied these, that CySEC has no authority or jurisdiction to receive fees for any purpose from private investors or to authorize anyone to do so on its behalf, that it does not authorize, verify, monitor or be involved in any way in class actions, compensation plans, payments between natural or legal persons, public or private organizations.
It also reminds that CySEC regularly issues warnings and updates on unsupervised entities and impersonation of its representatives, as well as a CySEC investor guide on how to detect fraud.
CySEC urges the public to be particularly cautious in relation to any unsolicited communication they receive, which appears to come from CySEC, to avoid transferring money to any person claiming any or all of the above or anything similar.
