FSCA issues alerts of scammers impersonating licensed FSPs

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The FSCA has warned of more impersonation scams that have come its attention. The Authority has issued numerous alerts in recent months of instances where fraudsters impersonate legitimate financial services providers (FSPs) to solicit funds from unsuspecting members of the public. These fraudsters usually operate on social media messaging platforms.

This month, the Authority urged the public to beware of scammers on Telegram who are impersonating Freedom Capital Investment Managers and one of its employees.

According to the information received by the FSCA, the scammers offer “investment opportunities” in cryptocurrency trading, forex trading, and gold mining. There are three purported trading plans: Beginners Plan, Premium Plan, and VIP Plan. Investors are told they can earn eight times their initial capital within six days.

The FSCA has learned that the scam operates by requiring clients to select a trading plan, purchase Bitcoin to fund a trading account, and deposit funds using a provided address. The scammers trade on clients’ behalf for a 10% commission on the total profit.

The Authority’s statement said the scammers are also impersonating one of Freedom Capital’s portfolio managers, Victoria Leigh Cook.

Freedom Capital (Pty) Ltd is an authorised FSP (No. 27030). It is not affiliated with the individuals conducting the scam and has no connection to the promises made on Telegram.

Meanwhile, scammers – also operating on Telegram – are impersonating another legitimate FSP, Bovest Wealth Management (Pty) Ltd (FSP No. 35064), and its consulting specialist, Godfried Kotze.

These individuals use the name of “Bovest Wealth” and “Mr Kotze” to solicit investments into, among other things, forex and Bitcoin. Members of the public are promised unrealistic returns on their investment.

Bovest Wealth does not use Telegram to market its services and has no association or relationship with the individuals using its name and that of Kotze.

The Authority urges the public to be wary of investment schemes on messaging and social media platforms.

The FSCA also warns the public to be cautious when conducting financial services business with FXMG MT4 Traders.

It has come to the FSCA’s attention that FXMG MT4 Traders is representing, on various websites, that they are associated with FXGM South Africa (Pty) Ltd trading as FXMG ZA, which is an authorised FSP (No. 50202). They do this by using FXMG ZA’s FSP number and logo. In addition, their website and social media pages bear close similarities to the layout of FXMG ZA’s website.

FXMG ZA has no affiliation, connection, relationship, or association with FXMG MT4 Traders.

The FSCA said FXMG MT4 Traders has not responded to its queries.

Without commenting on the business of FXMG MT4, the FSCA said FXMG MT4 Traders is not authorised to conduct financial services business.

The FSCA has advised the public to act with caution if they intend to conduct financial services business with Durban Forex Group.

The FSCA has received information indicating that Durban Forex Group may possibly be providing financial services to members of the public without being authorised to do so.

Without making or communicating any finding in this regard, the FSCA points out that Durban Forex Group is not authorised in terms of any financial sector law to provide financial products or render financial services.

The Authority said it endeavoured to contact Durban Forex Group, but it has not responded.

Check before you invest

The FSCA says members of the public should always check the following:

  • That an entity or individual is authorised by the FSCA to provide financial products and services, including for providing recommendations about how to invest.
  • The category of advice the person is registered to provide, because there are instances where companies or people are registered to provide basic advice for a low-risk product but advice on far more complex and risky products.
  • That the FSP number used by the entity or individual offering financial services matches the name of the FSP on the FSCA’s database.

You can check whether an entity or person is authorised to provide financial products and services by:

Conducting an online search for a financial institution that is an authorised FSP: https://www.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm