The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai
Hokohoko – is warning investors to be wary of scammers
impersonating New Zealand-based derivatives issuer Rockfort
Markets Limited.
The FMA last week issued scam
warnings about www.rockfortmarket.net,
www.rockfortcrypto.com,
and www.rockfort-markets.com.
The warnings followed several complaints to the FMA about
investors – who are mainly based overseas – being scammed.
Rockfort Markets Limited has confirmed it is not associated
with these websites.
Scammers are nimble and may
launch new websites continuing to impersonate Rockfort (and
potentially, other New Zealand firms) in further attempts to
dupe people, the FMA said. It is critical that investors
check they are dealing with the correct entity.
The
FMA will endeavour to update the warnings if new information
is provided.
The regulator has previously noted a rise
in scams impersonating New Zealand businesses. Over the
past six months (February-July 2021) the FMA has issued 23
warnings about impostor
websites, compared to 21 in the six months prior (August
2020-January 2021).
The legitimate Rockfort Markets
website is: www.rockfortmarkets.com
Signs
of an impostor website
- Phone numbers or physical
addresses are mixed up with local NZ contact
details. - The website domain name (the address you
see when you check the address bar at the top of the
browser) doesn’t seem to match the content of the
website. - The offer promises high returns, is unclear
about what’s being offered and/or says it’s secure or
guaranteed without details of how.
What
consumers/investors can do:
- Don’t use contact
details from the website. Find the company’s phone number
or email address from an independent source, such as a
directory, and contact the business directly. - Check
any claims of being licensed
or registered in NZ. - Check the domain name,
which can be done via dnc.org.nz for .nz
domain names and ICANN’s WHOIS service for .com domain
names
What businesses can do:
- Issue
direct and public communications to clients/customers
warning your business is being impersonated (e.g. posting on
your social media pages) - Report the case to a
relevant government agency (e.g. FMA, CERT) - Update
your business’ details on Companies Office or the FSPR to
warn about the
scammers
