CBB issues CySEC scam warning

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has issued a warning to financial institutions and the general public here over a scam in which the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and its officers have been impersonated. Ensure utmost caution in the face of any unsolicited communication from anyone claiming to represent the CySEC, the CBB statement warns.

“Under no circumstances should you send any money to such individuals in connection with any scams,” the statement alerts. The warning follows several incidents involving scammers soliciting investors for fees to settle fraudulent compensation claims related to the business activities of firms under CySEC’s supervision.

People are advised to contact CySEC to confirm the authenticity of any unsolicited communication by email at ‘info@cysec. gov.cy’ in the event of suspicious correspondences. Citing a recent incident, CySEC said an individual using the name “Christos Sofroniou” attempted to convince recipients to pay legal fees to participate in fake aid programmes for recovery of losses they might have suffered.

The individual used the electronic address contact@sofroniou-legal.org and the telephone numbers +35725654263, +35799711917. CySEC clarified that it never sends unsolicited correspondence to investors or public, and does not request any personal data, financial or otherwise. CySEC has no authority or jurisdiction to collect fees from individual investors, nor appoint anyone to do so on its behalf. The authority also does not authorise, verify, monitor, or is in any way involved in class actions, and compensation.