Vicenza, online scams alert related to trading

In the last months, The State Police Reporting Offices of the province of Vicenza are registering a certain increase in reports of scams in the so-called “online trading”.

This is an extremely insidious criminal phenomenon and of great social alarm, especially for 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 themselves responding to ads on social media that promise large earnings.

The scam often has as its object an alleged investment in the stock market crypto-currencies, notoriously characterized by price volatility, such as encourage the unfortunate person to invest large sums of money with the illusion of very high earnings (+30% of the amount invested in the short term and even larger amounts).

In all cases the victim is invited to register on an online platform managed by the scammer, who reports false data with the sole purpose of motivating the unfortunate victim to pay ever-increasing sums with the illusion of large earnings. When the victim asks to cash in their earnings, the scammers ask for more money, as alleged taxes to be paid to various governance authorities or commissions to the broker itself.

The multiple possibilities of pulverization and anonymization of capital through the system of crypto-currencies makes it difficult to recover the sums involved in the scam, therefore it is important to take every possible precaution in online trading operations, avoiding transferring money to unknown parties and turning to qualified and regulated operators in the sector, to this end checking on the website of the Bank of Italy, CONSOB, the Italian Financial Market Supervisory Authority and on the website of ESMA, 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 you from abroad (e.g. +44, +34, +33, +852, etc.);
• be wary of people (often women) met on dating platforms who present themselves as experts in the financial sector;
  always check on the websites of Consob and Banca d'Italia that the broker exists and is actually authorised to offer investment services in Italy, if in doubt do not undertake any activity;
• be wary of operators who request an initial investment of more than 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 authorised to provide investment services in Italy;
• be wary of IBANs registered to natural persons (often these are front men or other victims of the same type of crime, used to anonymize transfers and facilitate money laundering);
• do not send copies of your personal documents without first verifying your authorization to operate investment services in Italy;
• never disclose to third parties data relating to your accounts, such as usernames and passwords;
• 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" the reimbursements of what has already been "invested", request the payment of further sums of money as taxes owed to the FSA (Financial Services Authority): this is real extortion;
• do not believe alleged lawyers and consultants who promise the recovery of any sums already lost.

The Vicenza Police Headquarters would like to inform citizens about the growing cases of scams related to online trading. In recent months, a significant increase in reports from citizens who have suffered economic losses due to fraudulent or unauthorized trading platforms has been detected.

Online trading scams are often difficult to recognize, as they exploit seemingly legal and professional platforms, inducing the unfortunate victim to invest sums of money that, once paid, become irrecoverable. Victims are contacted through emails, phone calls, or deceptive advertisements on social media, promising quick and easy earnings.

The Police Headquarters invites citizens to maintain a high level of attention.
Caution is advised when using online trading services.
Only conscious and informed behavior can prevent scams and financial losses.