CySEC campaign warns investors of rising online scams

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on Friday announced the launch of a new social media campaign, urging investors to exercise caution when engaging in online investment activities.

According to the commission, the “new campaign is aimed at protecting investors against the rising trend of online scams and follows the discovery of fraudulent websites that are falsely claiming to be associated with CySEC”.

“Calling on investors to safeguard their personal information, the alerts remind investors that CySEC never sends unsolicited emails to investors and will never ask for sensitive or personal information, or request that money is transferred to them,” the commission added.

In addition, the announcement mentioned that campaign posts will be shared across CySEC’s social media channels, including on X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

“With the rapid growth of online investing, scammers have become increasingly deceptive in finding ways to steal personal information or trick the public into making payments to them,” a CySEC spokesperson said.

“We are urging investors to remain vigilant when considering investing online, and to be alert to potential scams,” they added.

What is more, the commission said that “investors should be aware that CySEC does not authorise, verify, monitor, or engage in any way in class actions, compensation schemes, payments between natural or legal entities or any public or private organisations”.

“Moreover, CySEC urges the public to ensure that any person or entity that they are in contact with, is licensed to provide investment services in Cyprus,” the commission stated.

Finally, the commission said that details of regular warnings and updates  regarding unregulated entities and the impersonation of CySEC representatives, along with an investor guide on how to spot scams can be found on CySEC’s website.