Originally Syndicated on May 10, 2024 @ 8:05 am
Two suspects come up again when examining the frauds that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued an investor warning against: Praxis Cashier, which acts as a payment gateway, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is the address provided by the scam operating firms. Universal Markets (www.umarkets.io, www.umarketspro.com, or www.umarketspro.net) is likewise like this. Universal Services LLC, registration number 193LLC2019, and/or UM Media LLC, registration number 240LLC2020, are purportedly behind the hoax. Whoa! The addresses of both businesses are Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
We found a little mutation that we were unaware of when using Praxis Cashier to handle payments for the Universal Markets fraud. Praxis Cashier is not present on the initial payment page of the fraud. The link under “Customer Service and Deposit Help” on this page points to a different page with the domain www.ccsecpay.com (CCSECPAY), which contains Praxis Cashier documentation. But the paperwork is tailored specifically for Universal Markets (www.universalmarkets.com), the scammer.
It appears like Praxis Cashier is changing and attempting to conceal its involvement in scams behind a page and domain that are in between. We discovered that Praxis Cashier would be connected to the domain www.ccsecpay.com.
We also found Ecommpay (www.ecommpay.com), a high-risk payment processor situated in the UK, operating behind the payment gateway. However, this payment method was no longer functional when we examined the scam.
The Universal Markets scam was alerted to by the Spanish regulator CNMV in June 2020 (see the report available here). Additionally, the UK FCA issued a warning to investors on March 1, 2021. It is therefore shocking that payment processors like Praxis Cashier, who act as gateway operators, continue to knowingly and voluntarily aid in the fraud.
Should FCA Look into Amit Klatchko’s Praxis Cashier?
The UK government has no control over the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulator that is funded by fees collected from participants in the financial services sector. The FCA protects the integrity of the UK financial markets by regulating financial companies that offer services to consumers.
It focuses on how financial services companies, both retail and wholesale, are expected to behave. Similar to the FSA, which it replaced, the FCA is set up as a company limited by guarantee.
To establish regulatory standards for the financial industry, the Financial Policy Committee, the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the FCA collaborate. The FCA is responsible for the conduct of around 58,000 businesses which employ 2.2 million people and contribute around £65.6 billion in annual tax revenue to the economy in the United Kingdom.
The authority has a wide range of authority, including the ability to control behaviour pertaining to financial product promotion. It has the authority to impose requirements on goods and set minimum standards. It has the authority to look into businesses and people. Furthermore, the FCA has the authority to impose a one-year ban on financial products and is also considering an indefinite ban. It has the authority to order companies that it deems to be deceptive to immediately withdraw or alter promotions, and to make such decisions public. Moreover, whether a person or organisation is being investigated for a crime or not, the FCA has the authority to freeze their assets. Since taking over on April 1, 2014, the authority has been in charge of regulating the consumer credit business. The authority has been responsible for regulating the consumer credit industry since 1 April 2014, taking over the role from the Office of Fair Trading.
The FCA announced changes in July 2023 with the goal of reducing the use of social media by “influencers” to persuade UK customers to buy risky financial products. A few of the regulations included outlawing cryptocurrency incentives like “refer a friend” bonuses, requiring influencers to disclose all potential risks, and giving products a 24-hour cooling down period so that novice investors could properly weigh their options. The action was taken in response to a notable increase in 2022—14 times more financial product promotions by influencers on social media than the year before.
Claims Made by Praxis Cashier (Amit Klatchko’s Company)
The best smart cashier software has been created by Praxis Cashier, a technology business, with you in mind. Businesses like yours can now operate in industrial peace thanks to intelligent cashier software designed to tackle high-risk processing challenges! With offices in Costa Rica, Cyprus, Spain, and the Ukraine, we are ready to work around the clock.
Using Praxispay has a lot of benefits. The program is simple to use and offers customizable payment management settings. You can select the payment option that best suits your business needs and set restrictions for each customer and VIP level. Furthermore, you may set up BIN country rules and credit card regulations directly in the back office software. Praxis will automatically route all of your transactions to the top-performing payment service provider once you’ve configured your payments. You might wish to think about the Praxis Cashier for larger firms. Brokers can get a complete payment processing solution from our hosted payment page. With a comprehensive multilingual support service, the organisation operates in Spain, Cyprus, and Ukraine. Praxis Cashier offers integration with almost all PSPs and supports most card issuers. While other payment processing solutions require a third-party payment processor, Praxis Cashier does the same thing. This software allows you to accept payments from all major card issuers and support all types of payment methods.
Fraud
Fraud is defined by law as the deliberate use of deception to get unfair or illegal benefit or to deny a victim their legal rights. Fraud can be illegal under civil or criminal law; for example, a victim of fraud may sue the perpetrator to stop the fraud or obtain financial compensation; or fraud may not result in any loss of money, property, or legal rights but nevertheless constitute a component of another civil or criminal wrong. The goal of fraud can be financial gain or other advantages, such as getting a passport, travel visa, driver’s licence, or mortgage fraud, in which case the offender makes false claims in an effort to qualify for a mortgage.
- It could be a warning sign that your broker is not acting in your best interests if they do not reply to you.
- Make sure there are no complaints, do your homework, and carefully study all the fine print on paperwork to ensure you are not being taken advantage of by a dishonest broker.
- Before attempting a withdrawal, try starting a modest account with a small balance and making trades for a month.
- Your broker might be churning if you notice purchase and sell transactions for assets that don’t align with your goals.
- Before pursuing more extreme measures, go over all of your documentation and talk through your options if you are trapped with a terrible broker.
Bottom Line
Brokers are sometimes to blame for traders’ losses, even if traders sometimes hold them accountable. Before opening an account, a trader should be rigorous in their research on potential brokers. If the broker passes this scrutiny, the trader should make a small deposit, make a few trades, and then withdraw their money. If all goes according to plan, a bigger deposit may be made.
If things are already bad for you, though, you should confirm that the broker is engaging in illicit activity (like churning), make an effort to get your questions addressed, and if that doesn’t work, you should report the broker to the SEC, FINRA, or another regulatory agency that has the authority to take legal action against them.
