Russia Sees Rise of FX Scams Amid Local Market Suppression
Russia's financial regulator warns that it has sensed an increase in online solicitations from unlicensed brokerage firms. The Russian Central Bank also addresses its public not to invest in seeming investment opportunities arising from the coronavirus lockdown.
The agency insists that online promotions, especially the notorious phishing ads found on popular websites, should be ignored, and users must exercise restraint when being aggressively encouraged to invest. The bank gave proof this Thursday, revealing how certain illegal forex platforms were targeting rookie traders by ensuring that online trading holds no risks and that a steady profit stream is a realistic expectation.
Interestingly enough, this latest development comes at a time when Russian financial regulators are seeing a steady drop in customer complaints in regards to licensed forex brokers. In 2019, the Russian Central Bank received 246 600 complaints against financial firms, which was down 2.8% from 2018's numbers, a recent analysis of complaints revealed.
Russian investors' interest in products has been loosened as a direct consequence of strict forex regulations issued by the local regulators, the main one being the RCB. More accurate readings state that the recent suppression of the forex industry in Russia is leading local traders to focus on offshore forex brokerage firms, away from the licensed Russian ones.
Adding salt to injury, in the past two years the Bank of Russia cracked local forex competition after striping a number of forex firms of their licenses and is currently continuing its repression of both Forex and crypto industries. During this ambiguous effort, the RCB has identified 140 suspicious brokers that might be offering illegal trading conditions to Russian clients.
