FCA warns against ... "FCA" and investments in cryptocurrencies

British financial supervision, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), issued a warning against hackers pretending to be under the regulator. Several thousand e-mails sent were supposedly encouraged to invest in cryptocurrency instruments with the recommendation of FCA.

Hacker trick "on the regulator"

Fraudsters, to increase the reliability of the information sent, manipulate the appearance of the e-mails, as well as the addresses from which they are sent. Through special software they manage to send messages, among others from such addresses as: fca.updates@fca.org.uk and fcafees@fca.org.uk. Everything usually has its purpose in the form of clicking on the sent link and the theft of sensitive data.

In the email sent recently by the hackers, we read:

"Bitcoin is still far from its peak under the 20 level of the thousands of dollars it has achieved in the 2017 year, however some cryptocurrency experts believe that its value will be even higher until next year".

Under the information was placed a button using the font and colors used by "British KNF". Absolutely, we should not click on it.

The regulator sensitizes and reminds:

"Please note that we will never contact citizens asking for money or bank details."

FCA does not like cryptocurrencies

It is no secret that in the eyes of many regulators of financial markets, virtual currencies are a problem that only increases. Market news is a potential opportunity for faster / higher earnings for investors, but also additional opportunities for fraudsters.

FCA at the beginning of July informed about considering the introduction of a CFD trade ban based on cryptocurrencies for retail clients - the problem is high volatility, high commissions and the lack of standardization of the valuation of these instruments. Hackers' actions such as described in this article will certainly not help to keep these instruments alive ...