According to a public warning notice from the Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC), a Canadian provincial regulator, investors have been warned not to take out any financial services with 4XFX as the FX and cryptocurrency broker operates in the country without its authorization.
4XFX offers investors several trading assets, including securities, derivatives, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and other commodities and shares.
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A senior investigator with the MSC explains that the regulator received complaints from Manitobans targeted by 4XFX, and his investigation turned up numerous red flags and inconsistencies. They also claim they’ve been in business for over a decade, but some investigative work on the regulator’s side suggests they’ve been around less than two years.
The regulator said that a Manitoban lost nearly $9,000 on the company’s ‘Bitcoin trading investment’ platform. It added that other fraudsters are now targeting the same man, which is typical of the fraud mechanism known as a ‘recovery room.’ Although the agency could help people who have lost money, they don’t charge a fee, guarantee money back, or give special preference to anyone who files a formal complaint.
ASIC also warned against 4XFX
“Not only was this individual defrauded by 4XFX, but his information is being shared with other scammers to target him again. He’s being contacted by companies offering to recover his money for a fee—this is a typical, ‘recovery room’ scam, where a second criminal with knowledge of the first fraud will pretend to help you in order to con you a second time. It’s insidious, and unfortunately it’s not uncommon,” said Jason Roy, a Senior Investigator with the MSC.
A brief review of the broker’s website reveals that it lists its head-office address in Estonia, and in the ‘Contact Us’ section it refers to other global contacts. However, we didn’t find any records of the broker to be regulated by the local Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority or any other regulator.
This is not the first time that 4XFX has sparked regulatory concerns. Earlier in January, Australia’s financial watchdog ASIC red-flagged the multi-asset broker, which is owned and operated by GRF EUROPE OU, based in Berlin, Germany. Moreover, 4XFX was also blacklisted by Estonian and Spanish regulators.