XTB Clone Scam: FCA Issues Urgent Investor Warning

<p>The UK
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning against an unauthorized
firm illegally using the details of publicly-listed and regulated broker XTB to
scam investors. This is another recent attempt by scammers to impersonate
popular trading platforms and deceive retail traders.</p><p>FCA Warns against XTB
Clone Targeting UK Investors</p><p>The clone
firm "XTB Trading World" has been contacting UK residents claiming to
be associated with XTB Limited, an FCA-authorized company. However, the FCA
confirmed this clone firm has no connection to the real XTB.</p><p>The
fraudsters are using the firm name to falsely present themselves as XTB. Attempts
to contact retail investors are made through the phone number +447424912789 and
the email address [email protected]. The FCA emphasizes the importance
of exercising extreme caution and avoiding any interaction with these scammers.</p><p>According
to the FCA warning, the XTB clone promotes financial services and products
to UK investors without authorization. This puts investors at risk of losing
money without recourse.</p><p>Clones Are Everywhere</p><p>This is not
the first warning from the FCA against the XTB <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/clone/">clone</a>. The last time the
regulator warned about people impersonating employees of the publicly listed
company was <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/regulation/uk-fca-warns-on-xtb-broker-clone/" target="_blank" rel="follow">in March 2022</a>. This year, the regulator from <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/uk-flags-plus500-clone-italy-blocks-xtb-empire-3-others/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Italy blocked</a> access
to the XTB Empire website, which is also a clone.</p><p>Just
yesterday (Wednesday), Finance Magnates informed about clones of the popular
<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/r/retail-trading/">retail trading</a> brand <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/fca-identifies-clone-firms-imitating-hargreaves-lansdown-and-westpac/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Hargreaves Lansdown and retail banking giant Westpac</a>. It
shows that the practice of creating fake firms, mirroring legitimate ones is, unfortunately, getting more common. </p><p>In
November, the FCA issued alerts regarding imposters of renowned platforms like
the social trading network eToro and those posing as publicly traded <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/clone-firm-impersonates-legitimate-ig-markets-fca-warning/" target="_blank" rel="follow">IG Group
members</a>. Moreover, during that month, con artists misused the names and
trademarks of Santander and Saxo Bank.</p><p>How To Protect Yourself</p><p>Clone firms'
common tactics include cold-calling investors with investment offers, promoting
fake products not offered by the real firm, and asking investors to transfer
funds in unsafe ways. Victims often lose large sums of money to these scams,
with an average reported loss of £47,000. </p><p>Clone firms
take advantage of the trust placed in established financial brands and exploit
investors' lack of awareness of fraud tactics. The FCA advises investors to only
deal with FCA-authorized firms, which can be checked on the Financial Services
Register. Dealing with unauthorized firms means forgoing certain investor
protections.</p><p>Investors
should also be wary of unsolicited contact about investment opportunities.
Carefully check any firm's credentials before sending them money or sharing
personal information. Everyone can report scams to the FCA by calling the
authority or using their contact form.</p>

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.