Cyprus’s
financial regulator is warning investors about fraudulent websites that target
people who’ve already lost money to investment scams, pretending to help
recover their funds while actually collecting personal information for further
fraud.
Scammers Target Fraud Victims With Fake Recovery Sites
The Cyprus
Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) identified
six specific malicious sites: getyourmoneyback.ltd, getyoursback.org,
theystole.net, chargebackinternational.com, chargebackme.com, and
chargebackmoney.biz. The regulator suspects more similar sites exist that
haven’t been discovered yet.
“These
malicious websites are advertised online and on social media, mainly targeting
people who have been victims of online fraud,” CySEC commented in the press
release. “They collect personal and financial information from investors
through websites, emails and/or phone calls.”
The
scammers go as far as impersonating
CySEC officers, using email addresses that look similar to the regulator’s
official domain. They promise to help recover losses from both regulated and
unregulated investment firms, but the whole operation is designed to extract
more money and information from vulnerable victims.
Recovery Frauds Growing
More Common
The warning
from CySEC addresses what’s known as recovery fraud –
a situation where someone tries to scam people who’ve already been scammed once
before. CySEC has been issuing warnings about similar activities for years,
just like regulators in various other parts of the world.
A few
months ago, FinanceMagnates.com reported on a case investigated by
Europol where investment scammers earned $20 million by attacking the same
victims not twice, but
three times over.
Fraudsters often
impersonate the UK’s FCA, one of the most popular and active regulators in
the investment and financial environment. Meanwhile, at the end of 2023, Polish
traders lost millions of zloty in recovery scams involving fake law firms
that hunted FX and crypto investors.
Red Flags Investors Should
Know
CySEC
emphasized several key points that should immediately raise suspicion. The
regulator never
makes unsolicited phone calls or sends random correspondence to
individuals. It doesn’t request personal, financial, or other sensitive
information through cold outreach.
Anyone
receiving communication claiming to be from CySEC should verify its
authenticity by emailing report.fraud@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action.
Real CySEC emails always end with the official domain cysec.gov.cy, though
fraudsters have figured out ways to disguise their addresses to look
legitimate.
The
regulator has zero authority to collect fees from individual investors for any
reason, nor can it appoint others to do so on its behalf. CySEC doesn’t
authorize, verify, monitor, or participate in class actions, compensation
schemes, or payments between individuals or organizations.
Double Victimization
Problem
This type
of fraud represents a particularly cruel form of double victimization. People
who’ve already lost money to investment scams often feel desperate to recover
their funds, making
them prime targets for these fake recovery services.
The
emotional and financial vulnerability of previous fraud victims makes them more
likely to fall for promises of help, especially when the scammers impersonate
official regulatory bodies. These operations exploit the trust people place in
government institutions designed to protect them.
CySEC
regularly publishes warnings about unregulated entities and impersonation
attempts on its official website. The regulator also maintains an investor
guide specifically focused on spotting and avoiding various types of financial
scams.
The
watchdog urged the public to stay alert for any unsolicited communication
claiming CySEC affiliation and to never send money to anyone claiming to
represent the organization.
Cyprus’s
financial regulator is warning investors about fraudulent websites that target
people who’ve already lost money to investment scams, pretending to help
recover their funds while actually collecting personal information for further
fraud.
Scammers Target Fraud Victims With Fake Recovery Sites
The Cyprus
Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC ) identified
six specific malicious sites: getyourmoneyback.ltd, getyoursback.org,
theystole.net, chargebackinternational.com, chargebackme.com, and
chargebackmoney.biz. The regulator suspects more similar sites exist that
haven’t been discovered yet.
“These
malicious websites are advertised online and on social media, mainly targeting
people who have been victims of online fraud,” CySEC commented in the press
release. “They collect personal and financial information from investors
through websites, emails and/or phone calls.”
The
scammers go as far as impersonating
CySEC officers, using email addresses that look similar to the regulator’s
official domain. They promise to help recover losses from both regulated and
unregulated investment firms, but the whole operation is designed to extract
more money and information from vulnerable victims.
Recovery Frauds Growing
More Common
The warning
from CySEC addresses what’s known as recovery fraud –
a situation where someone tries to scam people who’ve already been scammed once
before. CySEC has been issuing warnings about similar activities for years,
just like regulators in various other parts of the world.
A few
months ago, FinanceMagnates.com reported on a case investigated by
Europol where investment scammers earned $20 million by attacking the same
victims not twice, but
three times over.
Fraudsters often
impersonate the UK’s FCA, one of the most popular and active regulators in
the investment and financial environment. Meanwhile, at the end of 2023, Polish
traders lost millions of zloty in recovery scams involving fake law firms
that hunted FX and crypto investors.
Red Flags Investors Should
Know
CySEC
emphasized several key points that should immediately raise suspicion. The
regulator never
makes unsolicited phone calls or sends random correspondence to
individuals. It doesn’t request personal, financial, or other sensitive
information through cold outreach.
Anyone
receiving communication claiming to be from CySEC should verify its
authenticity by emailing report.fraud@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action.
Real CySEC emails always end with the official domain cysec.gov.cy, though
fraudsters have figured out ways to disguise their addresses to look
legitimate.
The
regulator has zero authority to collect fees from individual investors for any
reason, nor can it appoint others to do so on its behalf. CySEC doesn’t
authorize, verify, monitor, or participate in class actions, compensation
schemes, or payments between individuals or organizations.
Double Victimization
Problem
This type
of fraud represents a particularly cruel form of double victimization. People
who’ve already lost money to investment scams often feel desperate to recover
their funds, making
them prime targets for these fake recovery services.
The
emotional and financial vulnerability of previous fraud victims makes them more
likely to fall for promises of help, especially when the scammers impersonate
official regulatory bodies. These operations exploit the trust people place in
government institutions designed to protect them.
CySEC
regularly publishes warnings about unregulated entities and impersonation
attempts on its official website. The regulator also maintains an investor
guide specifically focused on spotting and avoiding various types of financial
scams.
The
watchdog urged the public to stay alert for any unsolicited communication
claiming CySEC affiliation and to never send money to anyone claiming to
represent the organization.
This post is originally published on FINANCEMAGNATES.
