The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) has raised concerns about investors being increasingly vulnerable to losing their money on cryptocurrency transactions. The regulator termed this as “high-risk”. It attributed this to new investment apps popping up every now and then.
The PFSA pointed out several offers that encouraged consumers to capitalize on investment platforms that promise high profits, fast and reliable returns. The watchdog noted that it involves purchasing cryptocurrencies. As such, the PFSA urges consumers to verify information about such proposals, deals, and firms. It warned that consumers could be targeted through advertisements of celebrities or famous personnel. The watchdog says such platforms are registered in tax havens and supervising or monitoring them is difficult. It recommended thorough investigation and scrutiny by authorities and consumers alike to determine the firm’s credibility.
“In many cases, recovering lost money is highly complex, time-consuming, or even impossible,” the PFSA said. “If a customer suspects that they have been cheated, please gather details of the time of the even, the form of contact with fraudsters, telephone numbers, and email addresses, bank account numbers to which funds are transferred, data of recipients of such funds or addresses of cryptocurrency wallets.” The regulator also urges consumers to contact the police to report suspicions.
In July this year, the PFSA issued a consumer warning about Binance. It said the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations are unregulated in Central European countries. The regulator highlighted the trading risks associated with the platform. It also cited similar issues made by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority; the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority; Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority; and Thailand-based Securities and Exchange Commission. The platform is also under scrutiny in Japan, Singapore, the United States, and Canada.
