Recently, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) issued a warning to the public that someone impersonated their employees or used counterfeit CySEC websites to deceive investors. The regulatory agency provides some methods to identify and avoid these scams, and urges investors to contact CySEC to confirm the authenticity of any suspicious communication before taking action.

According to CySEC, fraudsters use various means to mislead investors, such as:

Create a phishing website that is very similar to the CySEC official website, but with different domain names (such as cysecregulatory.com, www.cysecgov.com, and Cysecs. group). These websites may contain incorrect or false information, such as a fake approved list of Cyprus investment companies or links that may redirect to unauthorized or fraudulent brokers.

• Contact customers of CySEC regulated objects through email, phone, WhatsApp, or other social media platforms, and use CySEC's name, address, logo, and seal to increase credibility. Fraudsters typically claim to be able to assist investors in applying for compensation or dealing with other issues, and demand their personal or financial data, such as identification or investment documents. Then, they may withdraw funds from the customer's account without their consent.

CySEC reminds that they never proactively contact investors over the phone or send unsolicited emails, nor do they request any personal or financial data from them. The institution recommends that investors info@cysec.gov.cy To verify any communication claiming to be from CySEC. Regulatory authorities also emphasize that real emails from CySEC end in gov.cy, and investors should be wary of any emails that use other suffixes.

CySEC stated that institutions are using monitoring tools to expose the latest fraudulent behavior, which can scan and analyze social media posts in real-time and flag suspicious or suspected aggressive marketing strategies. The regulatory authorities also thank investors who reported counterfeit communications to CySEC and encourage others to participate.