Ripped off – user falls victim to a dubious online trading platform

The police are warning about a dubious online trading platform that is defrauding users of their money.

Recently, there has been an increasing number of reports from concerned citizens to the police Glosar that numerous online trading platforms are being aggressively advertised, but are only aimed at making money deposits. There is never any trading and the money is lost.

A Goslar resident who was interested in cryptocurrencies, i.e. digital means of payment, had to make this bitter experience and came across the offer from “stocklux” during his research on the Internet. co” who advertised with celebrities on their site.

They had allegedly invested their money and thereby enjoyed corresponding profits.

After clicking on this page, he was asked by email to send various documents, including a registration certificate, a copy of his identity card and a credit card, supposedly so that his account with the stock exchange could be verified.

A few days later, he first received the email and finally a call from an alleged employee who apparently contacted him via mobile phone from Sweden and gave him bank details where he should transfer the money. This person subsequently managed to gain access to the Goslar resident's computer via a remote maintenance program.

In total, debits amounting to a mid-five-figure amount were made to accounts in China and Ireland.

In connection with this, relevant receipts and a printout from Barclaysbank were sent, in which it was suggested that he was serious and that a significantly higher total amount had been transferred.

When he became suspicious and demanded his money back, he was put off again and again until the contact, which was also carried out via WhatsApp, finally ended completely.

The scam:

In order to get their victims' money, the fraudsters are resourceful and always come up with something new. Remember, the stitch listed below can be continued under a different legend tomorrow at the latest:

Victims are usually made aware of the platforms via spam emails, advertising banners or social networks. The platform operators use the possibilities of search engine optimization (Google search results) and “buy” positive reviews to build reputation.

After interested parties or customers have registered on the platform via a data mask, they are contacted immediately - usually within a few minutes - by email or telephone from a call center by supposed platform employees.

During the initial contact, victims are assigned to their personal “brokers,” who introduce them to how the platforms work and ask them to pay a “deposit.”

Sometimes the brokers also require the installation of remote software under the pretext of explaining and setting up the user account to people.

Meanwhile, the fraudsters steal data such as credit cards and bank accounts unnoticed. Using the access data obtained in this way, the fraudsters later transfer additional amounts to themselves without the knowledge of the victims.

As an incentive for higher deposit payments, customers are suggested that - depending on the amount of investment - they will be assigned a broker with many years of professional experience from the outset and that they will have a correspondingly higher return prospects.

In the starting phase, customers are shown successful “trades” with high profits. This is intended to entice them to make further, significantly higher investments. Payments of larger amounts are often made to foreign accounts (e.g. Montenegro, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, etc.).

If customers demand a payout or are no longer willing to make further deposits, either a speculative loss caused by the broker is staged or an account is blocked. Customers therefore no longer have the opportunity to recover their invested money. Complaints regularly remain fruitless. When withdrawals have occurred in the past, they usually only served as an incentive for further deposits.

A short time later, the website on which the injured parties registered for online trading also disappears.

What can you do to protect yourself?

1. Be suspicious of offers that promise a safe investment, a guaranteed return, high profits and/or very low risk! Do not trust bonus promises and successes on demo accounts.

2. Before you invest money or make an investment, it is recommended that you obtain comprehensive information, if necessary from independent organizations such as the consumer advice center.

3. When making investment offers on the Internet, make sure that an imprint is included. Who is your potential contractual partner and where is he based?

4. Is it a company licensed by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Bonn or Frankfurt or another country in the European Economic Area? You can query this via BaFin's company database or via corresponding websites of foreign supervisory authorities. BaFin also publishes companies that have already been banned from doing business on its website.

5. When doing your internet research on the specific trading platform, pay attention to warnings from foreign authorities. Be sure to distrust very positive reports, especially from prominent investors. These are often written or commissioned by the trading platforms themselves.

6. Be skeptical of unsolicited calls regarding investment offers! Do not get involved in consultations with strangers.

7. Be careful with offers of help! Often, fraudsters who have acquired your customer data pose as Samaritans who want to help you get your lost money back.

8. Be suspicious and contact the police and/or BaFin if you suspect!

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This might also be of interest: Enough fraud: Dubious business with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Co.

Source: Police Inspectorate Glosary
Article image: alphaspirit.it / Shutterstock