Submitted by nsscadmin on
Part of the Nova Scotia Securities Commission mandate is to protect Nova Scotia investors. One of the ways we do that is by issuing investor alerts. You can find all the alerts we’ve issued for the last six years on our Investor Alert Database.
To try and spread further awareness about the companies and people we have issued alerts for, our Before you Invest Blog will do quarterly reviews of alerts through the year. This first investor alert review will look back at all the alerts we issued in 2021.
In 2021 the Commission issued nine alerts and took part in three national alerts issued by the CSA. The Commission recommends investors avoid investing with any of the following entities. If you have had dealings with any of the following entities, please contact the Commission.
FXT Brokers claim to be an online trading platform and brokerage located in Zurich, Switzerland that specializes in contracts for difference, forex and cryptocurrencies. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost money after investing with FXT Brokers. Despite receiving statements that showed large profits the investor was told they needed to pay substantial funds to have their profits and principal investment released.
24xForex/PACO World System Ltd.
Neither 24xForex or PACO World System Ltd. are registered to trade in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. They claim to be an online trading platform located in the Republic of the Marshall Islands that offers customers a choice of markets to trade in securities and derivatives. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost cryptocurrency after investing with 24xForex and PACO World System Ltd. After investing and initially making large profits the investors account later declined to a negative balance. Requests to withdrawal or return funds were ignored.
Neither Oliver Briggs or oliverbriggs.com are registered to trade in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. Oliver Briggs claims to be an online brokerage that specializes in cryptocurrency trading. They claim to operate out of the St. Vincent and Grenadines, but they are not registered or licensed with the St. Vincent and Grenadines Financial Services Authority. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost money after opening an account with Oliver Briggs. After being contacted directly by an Oliver Briggs representative they downloaded software that gave the representative control of their computer. Their bank account was accessed, and money was sent to a fake account. Requests to return funds were ignored.
Stanford FX is not registered to trade in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. They claim to be an online trading platform and brokerage operating out of London, England. They also claimed to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, a claim that the FCA denies. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost money after opening an account with Stanford FX. Their account initially showed profit growth, which led Stanford FX to try and convince the investor to deposit more money. Requests for withdrawals from the account were ignored.
JC Capital Markets is not registered to engage in the business of trading or advising in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. They claim to be located in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. They have been the subject of previous investor alerts from the Ontario Securities Commission and US. Securities Exchange Commission and appear on the British Columbia Securities Commission Investment Caution List. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost a large sum of money after investing with JC Capital Markets. All requests to withdrawal funds have been ignored.
Stearn House Trading and representatives Michael Schwartz, Evan Donovan and Tom Bennett are not registered to trade in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. Stearn House claims to be a full-featured online trading platform for major investments, including cryptocurrencies. They claim to be located at 250 Yonge Street in Toronto. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost money after opening an account with Stearn House. Requests to withdrawal or return funds from their account have been ignored.
Royal FX Trading is not registered to engage in the business of trading or advising in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. At least one Nova Scotia resident lost funds after investing with Royal FX Trading. Despite receiving a statement showing significant growth in their investment account a request to withdrawal funds was met with a fee payment requirement and no further contact from Royal FX.
ATB Crypto is not registered to engage in the business of trading or advising in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. ATB Crypto claims to be an online trading platform offering contracts for difference, and trading in stocks, commodities, indices, foreign exchange, and cryptocurrencies. It claims to be based offshore in the Marshall Islands. At least one Nova Scotian investor lost money after opening an account with ATB Crypto. This investor believed he was investing in cryptoassets. Although his account showed substantial returns, withdrawal requests were ignored or met with undisclosed requirements to send additional funds to ATB Crypto to cover tax consequences.
Microweb$ is not registered to engage in the business of trading in securities or derivatives in Nova Scotia. Microweb$ claims to be a VIP trading platform offering worldwide trading services. It also claims to be a leading monetizer and provider of bank instruments as well as a leading venture capital firm for crypto and decentralized finance. At least one Nova Scotia resident was offered high monthly returns if he invested Bitcoin. He was introduced to the site after being added to a group chat through the WhatsApp messaging service. This Nova Scotia resident did not send Bitcoin knowing that the described high monthly returns could not realistically be generated.