We start
the new week with an update to the warning list from the Spanish regulator, the
National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), which cautions against the
activities of seven different entities lacking proper authorization to provide
financial services. Among them are clones of three popular FX and CFD firms.

Watch Out for More Clones,
This Time of AvaTrade, LCG, and JFD

According
to the warning list published
today (Monday), CNMV draws attention to several new entities that “are
not registered in the corresponding registry of this Commission and, therefore,
are not authorized to provide investment services or other activities subject
to the CNMV’s supervision.”

The list
includes entities such as Capital Finexp, LBank, Coinrisen, and Immediate Edge,
as well as three clones of popular brokerage brands. The first is a copy of
AvaTrade called AvaTraex (the website avatradeez.com is currently
unresponsive).

Another
clone is London Capital FX, impersonating the LCG brand. However, its website
londoncapitalfx.eu also appears to be unresponsive at present. The last broker
clone that the Spanish regulator warns about on Monday is JFD Group,
masquerading as JFD Brokers.

This isn’t
the first time CNMV has warned about clones of popular brokerage brands. As Finance
Magnates recently reported, the regulator also added clones of IG Group and
StoneX to its warning list.

Clone Wars

Almost
every week, the industry receives signals from various parts of the world about
clones of more brokers. Although regulators (and CFD firms themselves) try to
combat this practice, their efforts prove ineffective.

Clone
websites pose significant dangers in the FX/CFD industry, threatening both
brokers and traders alike. These fraudulent sites mimic legitimate companies or
regulatory bodies, aiming to deceive unsuspecting individuals.

A few weeks
ago, the UK’s FCA reported another clone of XTB broker, which almost exactly
copied the website of the Polish fintech .

Earlier,
the German BaFin warned about a Pepperstone clone, one of the
“favorite” brokers among scammers and simultaneously one of the most
frequently cloned.

Recently,
the Belgian FSMA also drew attention to clones, highlighting two copied firms
on its list of over 40 potentially fraudulent trading companies: BNP Paribas
and CMC Markets.

To protect
themselves, investors should always verify the authenticity of a broker’s
website by checking official regulatory databases and being wary of unsolicited
offers or deals that seem too good to be true.