U.K.’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority has warned that fraudsters have cloned DuPont Financial, DP Global Services and DuPont FX. This means the crooks are using particulars of the legitimate business to woo potential clients. DuPont Financial states on its website that it has been in business since 2011, and that its founders have worked in the financial industry since 1991.
The fraudsters are using the details of Dupont Denant Contrepartie S.A., a firm registered by EEA that is a subsidiary of Natixis Securities S.A., a French investment bank. The clone site isn’t in anyway designed to connote links to chemicals giant DuPont.
The clone firm is targeting first-time investors who may not know about regulations and have no experience in dealing with investments.
While the FCA is yet to develop an effective solution to deal with the clone menace, it warns potential clients to watch out for tricks such as cold calling. This tactic is usually used to lure new customers, and is usually backed by genuine-sounding, though fraudulent, registration names and regulation numbers.
Indonesian government has tried to control the proliferation of clone websites by limiting traffic to some website, a cumbersome process, as fraudsters still manage to devise new ways to evade scrutiny. Most of the times, clone websites usually target clients in areas outside their jurisdiction, especially Chinese customers.
Meanwhile, Christopher Hill, 24, and Lukas Kamay, 26, both pleaded guilty to a list of charges touching on insider dealing in Australian financial markets. Mr. Hill, by virtue of his position as an employee of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), leaked data to Mr. Kamay between August 2013 and May 2014.
The leaked data was used to execute timely trades in FX markets, betting on the AUD/USD pair, an illicit activity that pocketed them at least $7 million. To register for a free 2-week subscription to ForexMinute Premium Plan, visit www.forexminute.com/newsletter.
To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com
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