Erscheinung:28.08.2024 | Topic Unauthorised business, Consumer protection Trade Pro UK Plc: BaFin warns consumers about the website trade-pro.tech and a case of identity fraud
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warns consumers about the services offered on the website trade-pro.tech. According to information available to BaFin, Trade Pro UK Plc is providing financial and investment services on this website without the required authorisation.
Trade Pro UK Plc, London, United Kingdom, claims on this website that it is registered with the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). To back this claim, it has published a certificate allegedly issued by the FCA. However, this certificate is fake.
Furthermore, a link on the website trade-pro.tech redirects consumers to the entry of the company Trade Pro Ltd in the British Company Register at Companies House. It seems that this is supposed to create the impression that the operator of the website, Trade Pro UK Plc, and Trade Pro Ltd are identical. BaFin does not have any information suggesting that this is the case, and considers it more likely that this is a case of identity theft.
Anyone conducting banking business and providing financial or investment services in Germany may do so only with authorisation from BaFin. However, some companies offer these services without the necessary authorisation. Information on whether a particular company has been granted authorisation by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.
Theinformation provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).
Please be aware
BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.
