The financial regulatory agency of Belgium added 28 names to the list of cryptocurrency trading platforms suspected to be fraudulent.
The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) Tuesday updated its list of cryptocurrency trading platforms which have been identified with signs of fraud.
With the addition of 28 platforms, the list currently contains 78 crypto platforms.
FSMA said that despite earlier warnings, it continues to receive new complaints of consumers who have invested in cryptocurrencies through these trading platforms. FSMA repeated its warning against those behind those platforms who are using cryptocurrencies "to swindle consumers."
Knowing that cryptocurrencies are the hype of the year, fraudsters try to attract customers online through fake cryptocurrencies and huge profits. "The only thing they actually do, however, is take the customers' money and disappear," the agency noted.
The number of victims of cryptocurrency fraud in Belgium continues to increase, according to FSMA.
FSMA advised potential investors to consult a warning it issued in February, which includes a detailed and telling testimony by a victim of a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform.
Consumers who have been cheated after investing in cryptocurrencies complain that they never recover the funds invested or that they have heard nothing further from the company after investing their money.
Some of the crypto platforms also offer other financial products with cryptocurrencies as underlying asset: savings accounts with supposedly guaranteed returns, servicing rights or derivative products such as CFDs.
FSMA is a supervisory authority that strives to ensure the honest and equitable treatment of financial consumers, and the fair and orderly operation and transparency of the financial markets in the country.
by Joji Xavier
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