Online investment: beware of fake investment opportunities

Fake trading platforms are currently proliferating on the internet. Be careful. Be wary of offers that seem too good to be true, as they are most likely fraudulent. 

Cybercriminals will try to trap you by any means possible. They may contact you via: 

• Email;
• Social media;
• Dating apps;
• Text messages, etc. 

How does it work? 

The approach is as follows: they encourage you to start by investing a modest sum (e.g. €250), they make you believe you will make high returns and push you to invest more and more. Some allow you to withdraw a small amount at the beginning to make you believe the scam. They offer to help you with the ‘procedures’ and end up installing viruses on your devices. Meanwhile, they make you believe in ever-higher returns. The goal is to get you to invest more and more on these fake, non-existent platforms. Then suddenly, one day, you want to withdraw your money, and nothing is possible. They disappear with your money. 

 Boiler rooms are in vogue 

Boiler room fraud refers to a scam involving the unsolicited sale of “fictitious” products or shares. They encourage you to invest in non-existent companies. These companies, which appear legitimate (website, telephone call, etc.), are operating illegally in Belgium. The FSMA issues a particular warning against: 

- Aaron Venture Capital (aaronventurecapital.com) 

- Aurora Capital Venture (auroracapitalventure.com) 

Do not respond to these fraudsters if they try to contact you. 

Have you been a victim? 

1. Stop all contact with the fraudsters: block their calls.
2. Stop paying: do not transfer any more money, even if you are promised that you will then get your investment back.
3. Inform your bank: Contact your bank immediately to try to block the transfer or prevent further damage.
4. File a complaint with the police: File a complaint with your local police station or at www.police.be.
5. Report fraud: via Consumer Connect > Consumer scams > Suspicious investments
6. Beware of ‘recovery rooms’: Some scammers approach victims again, promising to recover the lost money, but asking for more money to do so. 

More information and help 

For more advice and information on how to protect yourself against investment fraud, visit the Wikifin website, where you will find independent, reliable and practical information on money matters. 

Stay alert and do not be taken in by unrealistic promises. If in doubt, always contact the FSMA or your bank before investing. 

Platforms to avoid 

The FSMA strongly advises against responding to offers from these trading platforms (the list is not exhaustive): 

•        Aurudium (aurudium.com, webtrader.graftey-battex.com); 

•        BerryPAX (berrypax.com); 

•        Boosty Flow (boostyflow.com); 

•        Chilla Capital (Clone), FXB Exchange (fxbexchange.com); 

•        Deal-Traders (deal-traders.com); 

•        Fintradix (fintradix.com, trading-area.fintradix-v4.com); 

•        HashXCapital (hashxcapital.com); 

•        Lamaco (Clone) (lamaco.org, user.lamaco.ltd); 

•        Lesrouleaux (lesrouleaux.com, webtrader.garnetix.tech); 

•        Nobu Invest (nobuinvest.com, nobu-invest.com); 

•        Priv-Solutions (priv-solutions.com, web.priv-solutions.com/d/trading); 

•        ProfitBee (profit-bee.com, profit-bee.org); 

•        RiseGrandAction (risegrandaction.com); 

•        TheExcellFuture, ThExcelFuture (theexcellfuture.com, thexcelfuture.com); 

•        Total-Profits (total-profits.com); 

•        Windelagence (windelagence.com); 

•        XH Pro, XH Pro Global Limited (pc.xhpro.net, xhproltd.com).