CySEC Warns of Fraudulent Losses Recovery Posts on TrustPilot.com and Google Business

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has issued an important warning about false and misleading posts on public review websites such as TrustPilot.com and Google Business. In these posts, users have reported incidents where individuals posing as CySEC officers or representatives have contacted investors, demanding fees to facilitate the recovery of investment losses in companies regulated by CySEC.

In August, CySEC alerted the public about individuals fraudulently presenting themselves as CySEC representatives through emails and fake social media accounts.

To enhance investor protection, CySEC employs social media listening tools capable of monitoring social media posts in real-time, across multiple languages. These tools trigger alerts over false and misleading posts by investment and financial firms, as well as so-called financial influencers. This enables CySEC to oversee the marketing activities of regulated entities and take action against posts that may be harmful to potential investors.

CySEC’s tips for the public to identify and avoid potential scams:

• CySEC never contacts individuals by telephone or sends unsolicited correspondence and does not request personal data, financial or other information.
• Investors are urged to contact CySEC to confirm the authenticity of communications by sending an email to info@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action, and to inform CySEC of any suspicious activity that comes to their attention.
• Genuine emails from CySEC include addresses ending in cysec.gov.cy – although, there have been cases where fraudsters have disguised their web addresses to copy these.
• CySEC has no authority or mandate to collect fees for any purpose from individual investors, nor does it have authority to appoint anyone to do so on its behalf.
• CySEC does not authorise, verify, monitor, or engage in any way in class actions, compensation schemes, payments between natural or legal entities or any public or private organisations.
• CySEC urges the public to remain vigilant and cautious of any unsolicited communication claiming to be from CySEC, and to refrain from sending money to anyone claiming to represent it.