American Commodities Group Scam
American Commodities Group Scam Widens
Italy’s CONSOB continues to target unregulated brokers and investment scams. The regulator recently added two names to its blacklist, UP4X and the American Commodities Group, ACG. Both are operating illegally in Italy, neither having been registered or regulated. UP4X is a forex broker, ACG is an “investment” adviser soliciting to and trading for Italian citizens. ACG at least has been in the spotlight before, earning itself a similar blacklisting from Saskatchewan regulator FCAA (Financial And Consumer Affairs Authority). CONSOB is taking severe action and may block the websites from Italian Internet servers to prevent further fraud. ACG is operated by a man named Spencer George who is also not registered or regulated and likely a black hat marketer. An independent organization operating the website AmericanCommoditiesGroup.com is also actively alerting the public to frauds perpetrated by both ACG and Mr. George.
FinanceMagnates Interviews BCSC Official
FinanceMagnates recently interviewed the Director of Enforcement for the British Columbia Securities Commission. The BCSC is one of the leading anti-binary options voices in Canada and at the forefront of an effort to ban binary trading outright. The take-away from the article is that any binary options websites are out for nothing more than to steal your money. Well duh! Like we didn’t already know that. Binary options is plagued by financial marketing scams but that doesn’t make binary options bad. The problem now isn’t so much that fraud exists but that there are not enough regulated outlets for us traders forcing many of us to seek out unregulated and often untrustworthy avenues for trading.
When pushed on the subject whether Canada would ever give a binary options broker a license Mr. Muir said “No person is authorized to trade binary options in any Canadian jurisdiction. Any application to be registered to sell binary options would be decided on a case-by-case basis. . . Many websites claiming to offer binary options are simply vehicles for fraud. These fraudsters have no interest in registration or compliance with securities law, because they are not conducting any real business. They are just out to steal money.” Yeah, but, what about the ones that are trying to operate legit?
Australia Is Not Immune
Binary options fraud does not discriminate and even found in the Land Down Under. Australia’s regulator ASIC is facing a rising tide of unregulated brokers and scam activities which has resulted in the issuance of 5 new warnings. A.I.M Corporation, Oproserve (365BinaryOption), Pearson Investments, CFD Stocks and Libor Capital all operating in Australia and soliciting Australian clientele without registration or regulation. The brokers have been making unsolicited calls, using high pressure tactics and misleading information to lure potential victims into their clutches. ASIC is one of a growing number of regulators who recognize the need for regulation and will allow brokers to operate providing they meet approval. The problem here and like in so many other jurisdictions is not the brokers but the blackhat marketers that continue to use binary options as the means to commit their fraud. The good news is that most traders are aware and able to avoid most of the scams, the bad news is that scammers are targeting non-traders who have no idea what they are getting in to.
