Taranto, State Police campaign to prevent online trading scams

Fake online trading, the computer fraud on the online buying and selling of stocks and financial securities, is a growing criminal phenomenon that produces an illicit profit of millions of euros, representing, in the panorama of online fraud, the fraud that generates the most conspicuous profit, also fueling the interest of organized crime.

In 2023, the Postal Police received over 3.400 reports of scams related to false online investment proposals, an increase of 12% compared to the previous year, for a total value of stolen funds of over 111 million euros.

Fake financial investments are advertised with ad hoc messages, capable of inducing web users to trust deceptive proposals, thanks to the illicit use of brands and logos of important companies. The potential offered by artificial intelligence represents a precious tool in the hands of cybercriminals: the use of simple software allows them to create promotional videos that reproduce the voice and appearance of CEOs, politicians, personalities loved by the public, to whom words are attributed that were never said in order to promote the offer.

The victim of the scam is "hooked" by phone, on social media and dating sites, induced to communicate their data and finally persuaded to invest online, relying on the advice of a scammer who pretends to be a professional broker with the payment of a small initial sum. Later, she is persuaded to invest more money, because she believes her returns are growing rapidly. The final stage of the scam consists in the request for the payment of alleged “unlocking costs” to recover the invested capital, but in no case will the money paid be returned to the victim's availability.

The most effective weapon to combat this criminal phenomenon is prevention. Reality is not always what it appears on the Internet:
● Don't believe the promise of off-market earnings
● Do not share personal data, banking information, or login credentials with suspected financial agents;
● Verify the reliability of the person offering you the investment by visiting the Consob and Banca d'Italia websites;
● Use only official platforms and avoid clicking on advertising banners;
● The request for an additional payment, under the pretext of unblocking the invested capital, is the method used by cybercriminals to extort further money that will not be returned anyway.

If you recognize yourself in this type of scam, report it immediately: promptness is essential to activate investigations aimed at identifying the perpetrators and possibly recovering the sums. For information and reports, contact the Postal Police via the official website www.commissariatodips.it. Whatever happens, you have the right to be protected.

Listen to the advice of our testimonial Fortunato Cerlino.