August 26, 2020 | AtoZ Markets – As financial scam operations are ramping up all over the globe, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently warned against another such fraudulent company trying to dupe investors.
FCA warning against SO FX
In its latest crackdown, the FCA has warned against SO FX, an unauthorized educational forex trading platform.
FCA usually warns against fraudulent companies masquerading as authorized companies or brokers indulged in some misleading activities. However, the UK regulator has also issued warnings on the influencers showing off on social media about their forex profits and then selling affiliated services. SO FX mainly belongs to that last category.
Taking a look at the website of SO FX, the company primarily offers forex trading educational courses for both beginners and advanced traders. Notably, SO FX also guides potential forex traders to affiliate brokers, as mentioned on its website.
Moreover, SO FX seems to be getting the majority of its business through its social media exposure. The regulator also highlighted the Instagram handle of both the company and its co-owner George Linfield, along with the Facebook page of the firm with thousands of followers.
The flagged details of SO FX are:
Address: Roman Landing, 35-37 St Mary’s Place, Southampton SO14 1AU
Telephone: 023 8017 8743, +4447771606768
Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/georgelinf/; @georgelinf; @sofx;
https://m.facebook.com/sofxuk
Website: https://so-fx.com
Clone firms on the rise
Clone firms are not an unusual occurrence in the industry, as fraudsters have grown increasingly resourceful in recent years. A commonly adopted tactic is for scammers to advertise an illegal operation as a reputable brand or entity.
Apart from SO FX, the UK watchdog red-flagged two clones platforms imitating authorized brokers. One platform has imitated FCA-authorized Growell Capital Limited while the other has cloned EEA-authorized Dirk Vandebeek.
The FCA also detailed that the FXGrow clone is operating from “https://fxgrowcapital.com/” and might be approaching people using the email “support@fxgrowcapital.com” or phone number “0097145864211.”
The Vandebeek-clone is operating from “www.vandebeekwm.co.uk” and maintains at least two emails – info@vandedeekwm.co.uk, peterhoward@vandebeekwm.co.uk – and a telephone number – 02080897180.
The FCA encourages traders or those considering online trading to exercise caution. It strongly advised against funding an account or investing via this specific company. Anyone who chooses to sign up with the impostor should bear in mind that they will not receive the financial authorities’ assistance should things go awry.
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