The new warning list published by the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has presented the names of several new fintech and crypto companies.
The official UK regulator dealing with over 58,000 financial services companies has disclosed details of those companies that are not authorized or use the cloned names of known and regulated companies. Some of the latest additions to this ever-growing list are Ignis Markets, Walker Bryan, Credit Union Fund and Olympius Global.
FCA's warning list warns against the Ignis Markets clone
The regulator has posted a notice within the bustling US market investments of the United Kingdom and advised investors to be careful not to fall prey to the scam tactics that these fraudulent companies commonly use.
The announcement specifies that a hoaxer by the name of Ignis Markets offers financial products and services across the country without authorization. Therefore, the FCA has urged investors to be wary of suspicious companies hiding scammers who are trying to trick investors into shelling out large sums of money with promises of better returns, FCA said in the announcement.
Most surprisingly, FCA's warning list features cryptocurrency-related businesses that offer illegitimate investment services to clients in the UK. In particular, a peculiar cryptocurrency trading company is highlighted which offers leverage of up to 200x.
All fintech and cryptocurrency companies must receive an authorization from us before extending their services to customers in the UK. But in reality some offer them while the approval process is still ongoing, and others intentionally perform irregular and often fraudulent activities, said the FCA.
Beware of surprise calls
Shedding light on the company that is consciously cloning the FCA-approved Ignis markets, the financial authority said that whoever is behind this scam has found ways to approach users to convince them that they are authentic and verified services.
This represents a perfect example of a clone company, FCA explained. Every person in the UK must be wary of this commonly used tactic in which a surprise call is received from a company that presents itself with a truly existing company name and reference number. It's a hoax.
We must be very careful, FCA insisted. Meanwhile, the UK financial control authority has recently been vigilant on cryptocurrency companies that do not comply with the latest Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines.
Therefore, in an effort to crack down on terrorist financing and black market activities, the British FCA announced earlier this year that it would oversee the regulatory obligations followed by crypto companies and ensure that there were no defaults.
This scam model highlighted by the UK authority is the same as that used in any jurisdiction, so anyone must always prove themselves extremely careful and aware before embarking on an investment.
