Scammers pretending to represent Cypriot financial regulator

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) this week issued an urgent warning regarding the existence of fraudulent websites that are falsely claiming to be associated with the regulatory body.

CySEC has specifically identified two malicious websites, “cysecgov.org” and “cysecgov.cc”, which have been created without any affiliation to the commission.

Additionally, CySEC has highlighted that the email address “supportcenter@cysecgov.org” mentioned on these websites is equally fraudulent and does not belong to the commission.

CySEC has expressed serious concern over the activities associated with these fraudulent websites, stating that individuals behind these sites are “fraudulently presenting themselves as officers or representatives of CySEC“.

These scammers, the commission explained, are reportedly approaching investors and demanding fees in exchange for allegedly assisting with the recovery of losses suffered by investors in companies under CySEC’s supervision.

The commission pointed out that it has observed a growing trend in such fraudulent activities, with an increase in cases where “individuals fraudulently present themselves as representatives of CySEC”.

These scams, the commission continued, are being perpetrated not only through email but also through fake accounts on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Viber, and WhatsApp. In this context, CySEC said that it “urges the public to be alert to these scams”.

To assist the public in identifying and avoiding these fraudulent schemes, CySEC has reiterated several key points.

First, CySEC “never contacts individuals by telephone or sends unsolicited correspondence“, nor does it request personal, financial, or other sensitive information.

The commission also advised investors to confirm the authenticity of any communications by emailing info@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action and to report any suspicious activities that they encounter.

Moreover, CySEC emphasised that genuine emails from the commission will always end with the address “cysec.gov.cy“.

However, it cautioned that there have been instances where fraudsters have disguised their web addresses to closely mimic this official domain.

Importantly, CySEC clarified that it “has no authority or mandate to collect fees for any purpose from individual investors“, nor does it authorise anyone to collect fees on its behalf.

The commission further stressed that 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”.

What is more, the commission said that it issues regular warnings and updates regarding unregulated entities and impersonations of CySEC representatives, which can be found on the body’s official website.

Additionally, CySEC has provided an investor guide on how to spot scams, which is available for public reference.

“CySEC 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,” the commission concluded.