The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned of a scam in which members of the public who lost money while trading in cryptocurrencies are offered reimbursements.
In their communications, the fraudsters impersonated an individual named Emily Lakovidou and used the logos of the FSCA, the Prudential Authority (PA), the South African Revenue Service (Sars), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
CySEC is the financial regulatory authority of the Republic of Cyprus.
Emily Lakovidou is listed on CySEC’s Public Register of Certified Persons as an “Advanced Certified Person”.
Clients were charged fees to process the reimbursements. The impersonators used the email address nr-complaints@cysec.gov.cy and Lakovidou’s details to convince members of the public that they were employed by CySEC and authorised to reimburse the losses, the FSCA said.
CySEC confirmed that those impersonating Lakovidou were not authorised by it to act on its behalf and were not employed as investigation officers.
CySEC said it has recently observed the intensification of unscrupulous attempts to impersonate authorised firms, persons, or supervisory authorities and their officers. It was possible that the name of Lakovidou, with certification number CN7070, has been used without her knowledge.
The FSCA, the PA, and Sars are not affiliated with Lakovidou, and she is not employed by any of these organisations.
The matter has been handed over to the South African Police Service for further investigation, the Authority said.
Scams in which fraudsters impersonate legitimate financial services companies continue to abound, as these other recently released warnings by the FSCA show.
Rezco’s branding used illegally
Rezco Asset Management (Pty) Ltd is a registered financial services provider (FSP No. 702).
The asset manager has become aware of a fraudulent scheme being run on Telegram. The company’s logo and name are used illegally to lure the public into enquiring how to set up an investment account.
Rezco is in no way associated with the individuals or group, and it is not encouraging the public to set up investment accounts on Telegram.
Rezco has reported the matter to Telegram.
The FSCA said the number of “investment” scams being run on messaging and social media platforms is increasing, and it urged the public to be vigilant.
Scammers impersonate JSE Private Placements
The FSCA has warned the public not to conduct any financial services-related business with K2020052565 (South Africa), SPCG INC, and Nkosana Fanny Stanford Shongwe because they are impersonating JSE Private Placements (JPP), an authorised FSP (No. 51709), with the intention of defrauding members of the public.
It has come to the attention of the FSCA that this group of entities has been making unauthorised use of JPP’s registered trademarks, purporting to be representatives of JPP. They also claim to be an authorised FSP, disseminating and using documentation that falsely appears to be from JPP.
JPP is in no way associated with the group of entities.
It is the FSCA’s view that the group is conducting unregistered financial services business.
Abuse of legitimate FSPs’ numbers
The FSCA also warned the public against doing financial services business with the following entities:
Autospot and Easyfin
Autospot Financial Services claims to be an authorised financial services provider, by fraudulently using the FSP number of Chilli Blu Consulting (Pty) Ltd (No. 47343). Autospot’s subsidiary, Easyfin Financial Services, has similarly fraudulently used the company registration number of Iemas Insurance Brokers (Pty) Ltd (No. 47563), the FSCA said.
The Authority said Autospot and Easyfin may be offering financial services to public while fraudulently using the details of authorised FSPs. Both Chilli Blu and Iemas have denied any relationship with Autospot and Easyfin.
Autospot and Easyfin did not respond to the FSCA’s enquiries.
Green Capitalz
Green Capitalz (Pty) Ltd is not authorised to render any financial advisory and/or intermediary services.
The FSCA said Green Capitalz claimed on its website to be licensed and regulated by the FSCA, with FSP number 46886 and registration number 2015/331 240/07, registered at 80 Houghton Drive, Gauteng 2198. It also stated that its subsidiary, Pro-marketing Ltd, was an authorised FSP (No. 46886), licensed and regulated by the FSCA in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
The FSCA said FSP number 46886 belongs to Marnic Financial Consultants (Pty) Ltd.
Marnic is not associated with Green Capitalz in any way.
It is the FSCA’s view that this entity is conducting an unregistered financial services-related business.
Caution about Super Forex Investments
The FSCA said the public should be cautious when conducting financial services business with Super Forex Investments (Pty) Ltd.
The Authority said it received a complaint that Super Forex Investments may be offering financial services to members of the public. Super Forex offered investment opportunities with a promise of unrealistically high returns, via WhatsApp.
“Without commenting on the business of Super Forex or its products and services, the FSCA points out that for a company to offer financial products or services in South Africa, it must be authorised by the FSCA. Super Forex is not licensed in terms of any financial sector law to provide any financial product or financial service. Super Forex did not respond to enquiries made by the FSCA,” the Authority said.
Check before you invest
You should always check that an entity or individual is authorised by the FSCA to provide financial products and services, including making recommendations about how to invest.
It is also important to know what category of advice the person is registered to provide, as there are instances where companies or people are registered to provide basic advice for a low-risk product and offer advice on far more complex and risky products.
You can check whether an entity or person is authorised to provide financial products and services by:
- Phoning 0800 110 443 (toll-free)
- Conducting an online search for an authorised financial institution by licence category: https://www.fsca.co.za/Regulated%20Entities/Pages/List-Regulated-Entities-Persons.aspx
- Conducting an online search for a financial institution that is an authorised FSP: https://www.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm
I have been contacted yesterday 13 December 2023 by a person claiming to be an employee of CySec. They phoned from the following numbers: 012 902 4773 and 067 473 6640. He is also claiming that there is a refund due to me and wants to prove his identity.