Greek Capital Market Commission: “Alert” for online fraud – The tricks of con artists for “emptying” accounts

Repeated attempts to deceive the investing public online (online harm) signaled an “alarm” at the Capital Market Commission. Falsely pretending to be collaborators of the Authority or other official authorities, they attempt to extort money from the bank accounts of unsuspecting citizens, promising… “golden returns” through “safe investments”.

After the barrage of complaints, the Independent Authority issued two repeated warnings within a few days, drawing attention to investors. Some fell into the trap set by the fraudsters and will now have to turn to Justice to be compensated.

“We have undertaken an information initiative, in an effort to protect all investors, so that they do not fall victim to fraud,” says the president of the Capital Market Commission, Vasiliki Lazarakou, to OT.

Ms. Lazarakou sounded the alarm and called on investors to be especially cautious. And especially as she said not to share any personal information with strangers. Instead, she pointed out, they should trust official investment agencies, after thoroughly checking their validity.

How is… “phishing” done

According to Ms. Lazarakou, the most common practice beyond advertisements and e-mails involves persons calling unsuspecting citizens on the phone and claiming to represent legitimate reliable licensed investment firms, -when they are not even licensed-, and promising “safe investments” with “high returns”.

They are then urged to invest in well-known large-cap stocks traded on foreign exchanges, foreign exchange (FOREX), precious metals, oil, CFDs and cryptocurrencies, through unlicensed online trading platforms.

Most of the time, noted Ms. Lazarakou, these online platforms are not real but fake. That is, the figures shown (“investments”, “accounts”, “transactions”, “profits”, “losses”) are virtual.

As for the money that is “invested”, it is not directed to the market of financial instruments on behalf of the investors nor is it deposited in the accounts of the real beneficiaries, but through complex electronic routes it ends up in accounts for the benefit of organized criminal groups.

The “bait”

In order to convince victims to put in more money or to recommend a friend or family member to follow the same… path, they make sure that these investors show significant “returns” at the beginning.

However, subsequently, when investors ask for their capital or “profits” to be returned, under various pretexts (such as demanding additional taxes on the “profits”) the deposit to their account is delayed and eventually their account on the platform is deactivated and communication with these persons is abruptly interrupted, resulting in the loss of their money.

100 warnings in 2 two years

Fraudulent platforms are nothing new. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued from 2021 to date more than 100 warnings about unknown identity and origin for such investment platforms (more than 60 were made in 2023).

Ads for… crypto

Ms. Lazarakou urged investors to be especially wary of advertisements appearing on social media and authoritative websites with high traffic, which promise “high” and “sure profits” from investments in financial instruments or cryptocurrencies.

Many times they even use images of luxury items or fictitious statements of famous people to convince prospective investors.

According to the president of the Capital Market Commission, investors should scrutinize these advertisements. In many cases, he says, these ads are linked to another website, where the interested party is asked to fill in their details.

This is followed by telephone communication from persons who guide the prospective investors in opening an account on an online platform and depositing the money.

Global alert

Ms. Lazarakou clarified, however, that the phenomenon is not Greek. On the contrary, it is showing a great increase in several countries abroad.

Such are the dimensions it has taken that the International Organization of Capital Market Commissions (IOSCO), which represents 130 countries, is preparing to issue a corresponding warning.