Puglia, "online trading" scam alert: the recommendations of the State Police.

In the last months the Operational Center for Cyber ​​Security “Puglia” recorded a further increase in the regional level of complaints for so-called fraud crimes “online trading”.

This is an extremely insidious criminal phenomenon of high social alarm, especially due to the amount of economic damage suffered by the victims, which ranges from a few thousand to over one hundred thousand euros.

In the recurring pattern the scam arises from direct contact between the victim and the scammer, through social platforms, dating apps, promotional calls received by the victim, and in some cases, calls made by the victim himself by responding to ads on social media that promise large profits. 

The scam has as its object a alleged investment in the cryptocurrency market, notoriously characterized by such price volatility as to incentivize the unfortunate person to invest large sums of money with the illusion of very high earnings (+30% of the sum invested in the short term and even higher amounts).

In all cases the victim is invited to the hospitalregister on an online platform managed by the scammer, which reports false data that have the sole purpose of motivating the unfortunate person to pay increasingly larger sums with the illusion of large profits. When the victim asks to monetize their earnings, the scammers ask for more money, as alleged taxes to be paid to the enforcement authority. governance English (FSA) or commissions to the broker itself.

The multiple possibilities of pulverization and anonymization of capital through the crypto-currency system makes the recovery of the sums subject to fraud complex, therefore it is important to adopt every possible precaution in the operations of online trading, avoiding transferring money to unknown parties and turning to qualified and regulated operators in the sector, to this end by checking the websites of the Bank of Italy, CONSOB, the Italian Authority for the Supervision of Financial Markets and the ESMA website, the European Securities and Markets Authority. 

The State Police recommends observing the following precautions: 

• be wary of promises of excessive and disproportionate earnings
• be wary of operators who contact from abroad (e.g. +44, +34, +33, +852, etc.)
• Be wary of Asian women you meet on dating platforms who present themselves as experts in the financial sector
• always check on the Consob and Bank of Italy websites that the broker exists and is actually authorized to offer investment services in Italy, if in doubt do not undertake any activity
• be wary of operators who ask for an initial investment of around 250 euros (in all cases this is the first step of the scam)
• do not transfer money to foreign IBANs unless you are certain that the beneficiary is an operator authorized to provide investment services in Italy
• be wary of IBANs registered to natural persons (these are frontmen or other victims of the same type of crime, used to anonymize transfers and encourage money laundering)
• do not send copies of your personal documents without first verifying the authorization to operate investment services in Italy
• never reveal data relating to your accounts, such as username and password, to third parties
• never install apps to remotely control your devices
• do not make transfers from your cryptocurrency wallet to addresses indicated by the broker (these are normally addresses that the scammer uses to take possession of the cryptocurrency and anonymize subsequent movements)
• do not fall into the further trap of fraudsters who, under the pretext of "unlocking" reimbursements of what has already been "invested", require the payment of further sums of money as taxes due to the FSA (Financial Services Authority): these are authentic extortion
• do not believe alleged lawyers and consultants who promise the recovery of any sums already lost.

For any further information, contact the Operational Center for Cyber ​​Security of the Postal and Communications Police "Puglia".