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The company Interactiv Global Brokers has been contacting consumers via the website interactiv-global-brokers.com in order to offer them banking business and financial services. Moreover, it has been contacting investors and offering them the possibility of buying certain shares. It does not have authorisation under the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG) or the German Investment Firm Act (Wertpapierinstitutsgesetz – WpIG) to conduct these activities. The operator of the website, which claims to have its registered offices in London, uses a company name that is almost identical to that of the Interactive Brokers LLC Group. It is therefore committing identity fraud.
BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.
Background information:
Companies that offer financial or investment services in Germany require authorisation from BaFin under the KWG and/or the WpIG to provide these services. However, some companies offer these services without the necessary authorisation. Information on whether a particular company has been granted authorisation by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.
The information provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the KWG.
