The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warns the public to be cautious when conducting financial services business with Gold Trading, who are impersonating an authorised financial services provider (FSP).
It was brought to the attention of the FSCA that Gold Trading, is using the FSP number of Astrix Data (Pty) Ltd (Astrix Data) (FSP 52313) to solicit investments by offering market analysis and trading ideas on Facebook. Astrix Data have confirmed that it is not associated with Gold Trading.
Gold Trading is not authorised in terms of any financial sector law to provide financial services. Gold Trading Ltd failed to respond to FSCA queries.
The public is strongly urged to exercise caution when considering investment or trading offers on social media platforms or any unsolicited offers.
It is highly recommended that the public verify:
that an entity or individual is authorised by the FSCA to provide financial products and services, including recommendations about how to invest.
what category of advice the person is registered to provide, as there are instances where companies or people are registered to provide basic advice for a low-risk product and then offer advice on far more complex and risky products.
that the FSP number utilised by the entity or individual offering financial services matches to the name of the FSP on the FSCA database.
What is Fraud? “Fraud” is any activity that relies on deception in order to achieve a gain. Fraud becomes a crime when it is a “knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment” (Black’s Law Dictionary). In other words, if you lie in order to deprive a person or organization of their money or property, you’re committing fraud.