CySEC warns public to beware of individuals fraudulently appearing as its representatives

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has issued a warning to the public to beware of individuals fraudulently presenting themselves as its representatives, and urged people to remain vigilant and cautious.

“There has recently been an increase in cases where individuals fraudulently present themselves as representatives of CySEC, both through email and fake accounts on online platforms and urges the public to be alert to these scams,” CySEC announced.

These individuals fraudulently present themselves as CySEC Officers or representatives, who are soliciting investors for fees in exchange for allegedly settlement of bogus compensation claims related to firms under CySEC supervision, it is added.

CySEC reminds the public that it never contacts individuals by telephone or sends unsolicited correspondence and does not request personal data, financial or other information.

Moreover, 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” the announcement adds.

CySEC also notes that it 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.

Furthermore, the Commission says it 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 says that it issues multiple regular warnings and updates regarding unregulated entities and impersonations of CySEC representatives, which can be found in its website https://www.cysec.gov.cy/en-GB/investor-protection/warnings/cysec/ along with an investor guide on how to spot scams.

CySEC finally 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.