In December 2016 Noseweek reported extensively on the flood of binary options scamsters, most based in Israel and Cyprus, who were targeting the South African market on social media and via internet news channels (nose206). A damning follow-up article appeared in February 2017 (nose 208).
Despite the scale and brazenness of the frauds, we noted the absence of action from any regulatory authority and law enforcement agency. Even in the UK, where the fraudulent sale of binary options was by then the country’s biggest scam, there had been no successful prosecutions. The official explanation: the fraudsters are usually located abroad.
The UK National Fraud Intelligence Bureau’s deputy director and financial crime specialist, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe, said that on an average two reports are made to police in Britain each day and the average investor loses £20,000 (more than R300,000).
Most people there were not bothering to report their experience in the knowledge there was little that police could do. The business was also not overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) because it is classed as gambling. And the UK Gambling Commission only regulates operators that have equipment based in Britain.
This story is from the February 2020 edition of Noseweek.
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This story is from the February 2020 edition of Noseweek.
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