MFSA Warns of Imposters and Financial Services Offering from Unconventional Sources

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has issued a warning against imposters of MFSA officials.

The MFSA has discovered that these imposters are sending emails and private messages to potential victims in the name of the MFSA and are circulating so-called “documents originate from the MFSA”.

The regulator reminded the public to exercise caution and beware of unsolicited emails, even the message seemingly from a familiar source.

The MFSA advises caution about unexpected or abnormal communication claiming to be from the regulator and other authorities. This is especially true of text messages from private numbers and emails without official domain names such as “@mfsa.mt.”

Emails and messages sent by imposters may contain low-quality images of logos, misspellings and grammatical errors.

Most importantly, the imposters may request payment, personal and financial information, and may urge, demand, or threaten potencial victims to click on suspicious links.

The MFSA advises members of the public to check the authenticity of information through the MFSA's official website when in doubt, and to refrain from contacting the other party until the situation has been confirmed, and not to provide them with any further information or transfer money.

Extra caution should also be exercised with regard to financial services coming from unconventional channels such as phone calls, text messages, chating apps and social media platforms.