There has been an increase in the unlawful impersonation of authorised financial service providers (FSPs) by persons unlawfully soliciting investments from the public. There has also been an increase in persons claiming to be associated with an authorised financial institution. The FSCA suspects that this is being done to lend a false sense of legitimacy to the operations of the impersonators. These impersonators are not authorised to conduct financial services business. It is a criminal offence to conduct unauthorised business and against the law to impersonate other businesses or make false claims of association.
The impersonators often utilise social media platforms to make investment - or trading offers to the public. The public is cautioned to take extreme care when dealing with investment or trading offers on social media platforms.
The FSCA has provided a list in the publication, of recent instances of impersonation.
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