The Financial Services and Market Authority in Belgium Warns Against Recovery Room Fraud

The Belgian Financial Services and Market Authority (FSMA) recently issued an alert to warn the public against recovery room fraud. It has been reported that scammers are using the logo and name of the regulator to mislead consumers and commit such scams.

FSMA noted that these scammers approach victims of investment scams as staff of the agency and promise to help them recover the money they were defrauded of while demanding fees from the victims for recovery. This is known as recovery room fraud.

Scammers posing as FSMA staff sent the following letter to potential victims:

The Authority stated that the email addresses mentioned in the letter do not belong to FSMA, so it can be concluded as a scam. Consumers are advised not to respond to and delete emails received about these email addresses.

The reason why the scammers stole the identity of FSMA is to cheat money or steal personal information from the victims. Therefore, the Authority has also reported the information to the judicial authorities.

FSMA emphasizes that it is not a financial institution and does not offer any financial services or products to consumers. As a financial supervisor, it does not have the authority to recover funds lost due to investments. Therefore, the regulator will never contact victims of investment fraud. FSMA advises consumers to exercise extreme caution when receiving unsolicited messages and not to respond to requests to transfer funds for financial services or products that are supposedly offered by the FSMA.