Maltese regulator reveals another scam project

The European financial regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), has identified a sophisticated fraudulent scheme consisting of several online projects that are absolutely identical, but under different brands, offering to trade in the OTC Forex and CFD markets. Moreover, scam projects falsely claim the existence of an appropriate license.

The regulator published a warning on the eve of the public, in which it reports on unauthorized activities in the country of online projects in the field of Forex trading – ApexTrade Options Ltd and MatrixFX Trade (or MFXT Ltd).

The Maltese regulator emphasizes that these projects are not licensed by MFSA and are not authorized by local authorities, contrary to what is falsely indicated on their websites. Both sites currently operate and target European users with financial services. The MFSA calls on potential investors, both in Malta and abroad, to be vigilant and to verify information against the official register.

The fact is that both sites are absolutely identical in appearance, format and structure, and differ only in domain, name and a little registration data. ApexTrade Options claims its British origin, as well as the presence of the MFSA Maltese license under the number, IS/56519, and, right there, a few sinks below, points to another license number – IS/565009. Moreover, the project proudly declares that it has this license for the past 7 years. Also, judging by the information posted on the site of the false broker, he offers his clients trading on the popular MetaTrader 5 platform.

In turn, the twin brother MatrixFX Trade, on an absolutely identical platform, posted false information about the availability of the MFSA license under number IS/56519. But despite the similarity of numbers, any connection with ApexTrade Options is hidden. The regulator emphasizes that the data indicated on both sites belong to another, regulated company, and are simply borrowed from it.

Scams are widely rampant in the largest financial market in the world. The methods become so sophisticated from time to time, that it is very difficult to distinguish between a genuine and a fake broker. Thus it is important to pay close attention to every detail.