Russians continue to fall victim to Forex scams
Three years after Vladimir Putin signed the Forex law, fraudulent schemes operated by purported “Forex brokers” continue to target Russian investors.
More than three years after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed the Forex law, Forex scams continue to target Russian residents. The latest reports about such fraudulent schemes come from the Police Department of the Russian town of Tolyatti. Today, the Tolyatti Police warned the public of the increased risks of Forex-related scams.
The Police officers said they received a complaint from a local resident who fell victim to a fraudulent company claiming to represent a Forex broker. The company invited the person in question in its office and promised him very high returns on his investment. During the presentation of the investment opportunities, the company managers used complex terms and explanations.
The fraudsters targeted the money as well as the property of the victims. The clients of the fraudulent firm sold their apartments while being assured that thanks to the Forex trading they would be able to recover their money and buy back the property. The money was usually transferred to offshore accounts and the victims lost their investments.
The latest warnings are released shortly after the police of Russia’s Priamurie announced that it had finalized its investigation into a RUB 32 million Forex fraud scheme. The investigation is a part of a criminal case against six defendants, accused of fraud. According to the prosecutors, the administrators of an online trading website offered investors to pump their money into managed accounts for trading on the Forex markets. The clients were promised that they would receive percentage of the profits generated from this trading. Given that the promised returns were very high, the offer appeared rather attractive.
The Russian authorities continue their fight against the Forex entities that do not have the necessary licenses to operate in Russia but target Russian investors nevertheless. In September last year, the Central Bank of Russia said it had initiated the blocking of 400 websites, many of which were related to phishing or to spreading of malware. The domain names blocked include ones by fraudulent companies which offer financial services to Russian clients without having the necessary licenses issued by the Bank of Russia. These websites belong to companies active in the FX industry or banking, and dealing with these companies can lead to substantial losses, the Bank of Russia said.
