FSMA Warns Against Scammers Impersonating the Regulator in Recovery Room Schemes

The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) of Belgium has issued a public warning regarding scammers who are misusing the regulator's name, logo, and authority to defraud consumers. The scheme targets individuals who have previously lost money to investment fraud, masquerading as a legitimate recovery service. According to the FSMA, the fraudsters operate a classic recovery room scheme. They reach out to victims claiming that the FSMA can help unblock or recover their lost investment funds. To proceed, the perpetrators demand that victims pay an upfront commission, tax, fee, or even a fabricated fine to the FSMA. Consumers have frequently reported being contacted by a fraudulent entity called Protectionline, operating via the website protectionline.net. The entity instructs victims to submit compensation claims supposedly approved by the FSMA before redirecting them to cloned websites designed to look like the Belgian regulator. The FSMA confirmed that the following domain names are entirely fake and have no connection to the authority: - https://protectionline.net/ - https://regulatory-legal.systems/ - https://regulatory-payout.systems/ - https://regulatory-transfer.systems/ The regulator also noted that scammers unauthorizedly place the FSMA logo on various fraudulent platforms to falsely claim licensing or regulatory approval. Fraudsters have been contacting victims using several unauthorized email addresses, including: - [email protected] - [email protected] - [email protected] - [email protected] - [email protected] - [email protected] The FSMA emphasizes that it will never contact consumers out of the blue, demand fees or taxes to recover funds, or ask for sensitive financial credentials like PIN codes or passwords. The authority does not provide fund recovery services or collect compensation fees. All legitimate FSMA communications originate strictly from email addresses ending in @fsma.be, and its official website is www.fsma.be. Anyone receiving unexpected calls or payment demands from individuals claiming to represent the FSMA is urged not to pay and to report the contact immediately.