New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has flagged an unlicensed crypto exchange clone of BTCSWE. The impersonator has been reportedly contacting customers, promising to retrieve funds lost in previous unsuccessful investments.

The country’s financial regulator added two fake entities to its warning list on Wednesday – BTCSWE and Grandeur Capital Pro.

BTCSWE cryptocurrency exchange is a legit company licensed under the FMA. The regulators have contacted the owners of the firm, who confirmed that they “have been impersonated as part of a wider recovery scam”.

According to the FMA’s cautionary note, the clone crypto exchange supplied fabricated documents to convince victims of this individual’s identity. The victims were then asked to pay a contract fee over a period of months to recover their lost funds.

Further, the impersonators have instructed victims to install “anydesk” software, which provides platform-independent remote access to personal computers and other devices.

“This has resulted in the victim losing a significant amount of money, as the software gave the scammer access to different passwords.”

The FMA has warned customers who have already given permission to install remote access software on their device to immediately seek help from an IT professional.

The regulator has also flagged fake forex, stock and crypto trading platform – Grandeur Capital Pro, with a New Zealand address.

“We do not think Grandeur Capital is located at or operated from that address or from any address in New Zealand,” the FMA warning read. “We have reasonable grounds to believe that there is false registration/licensing information on their website.”

Rising Tide of Crypto in New Zealand Opens to More Scams

According to insights from Statista, NZ’s revenue in crypto market is projected to reach $102.2 million in 2024, with more number of Kiwis expected to adopt cryptos in the next few years.

As a result, last year, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand noted that it is increasing surveillance of the crypto sector.

FMA has issued several such warning before against Crypto Fraudsters and Impersonators. The watchdog previously flagged Krypto Security and Bay Exchange, which have been contacting citizens to offer access to cryptocurrency services. However, none of these companies are regulated by the FMA.

The country has been cautions on crypto throughout. the Finance and Expenditure Committee of the New Zealand House of Representatives released a comprehensive report, highlighting the hazards associated with integrating crypto into the country’s payment system.

Last month, NZ’s central bank governor, Adrian Orr, criticized digital currencies as “misnomers” and “oxymorons,” raising concerns about their stability, particularly stablecoins.

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