Italy orders ISPs to block domains of Fxlivestrade, Ikon CFD
Italy’s financial markets watchdog has raised an alarm regarding a surge in unregulated investment platforms in their jurisdiction, urging individuals to remain vigilant and exercise caution while engaging in financial transactions.
The nation’s Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has recently ordered that ISPs block five offshore websites that are operating illegally in the country as the move helps in the fight against unauthorized providers.
Earlier in May, a slew of blocked websites included a clone scam of Nadex, the North American derivatives exchange, designed to deceive investors into believing they are dealing with a trustworthy and regulated entity.
Once victims fall into the trap and provide their personal or financial information, the scammers exploit it for various illicit purposes, including identity theft, unauthorized financial transactions, or even draining victims’ bank accounts.
As the battle between legal and unregulated trading rages on, Italian investors have been warned not to take out any financial services from:
– “Softech Trades” (website www.softechtrades.com and related page https://client.softechtrades.com);
– “Fxlivestrade” (website www.fxlivestrade.com);
– “Baer-group” (website https://baer-group.com and page https://webtrader.baer-group.cc);
– “Ikon CFD” (website www.ikoncfd-24.com and related pages https://my.ikoncfd-24.com and https://webtrader.ikoncfd-24.com ).
A glimpse at the websites of the brokers added out by the Italian financial regulator shows a well-known tactic to attract inexperienced clients to trade highly leveraged products.
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to ban the websites of financial intermediaries it deems unregulated, has risen to a whopping 898 offshore sites.
The regulator’s end goal is to eliminate unlicensed trading from Italy and ensure a healthy ecosystem for local investors. CONSOB uses a combination of AI-based search algorithms, investigations and customer reports to identify offshore operators.
The Italian regulator found new tools to address illegal operators in the market when the ‘Growth Decree’ extended its powers far beyond. Thanks to the decree, CONSOB can order Italian internet service providers (ISPs) to block websites in the region. Due to technical reasons, however, it can take several days for the black-out to come into effect when these websites shut for a temporary period.
