CFTC lawsuit against binary options scam Yukom Communications continues
The proceedings brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against fraudulent binary options scheme Yukom Communications and a number of individuals and entities linked to it continue at the Illinois Northern District Court. There is, however, little progress, if any, to report.
On January 27, 2021, a hearing was held before the Honorable Andrea R. Wood. It was continued to February 24, 2021.
The previous such hearing was held on October 2, 2021. Back then, the CFTC secured Clerk’s entry of default against Yukom Communications Ltd., Yossi Herzog, and Shalom Peretz. In July 2020, the regulator secured default entries as to Linkopia Mauritius Ltd, Wirestech Limited, WSB Investment Ltd, Zolarex Ltd., and Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications.
The next step for the CFTC in this case is to fight Yakov Cohen’s motion to dismiss, as well as to secure default judgments against the defendants. Let’s note that the clerk’s entries of default against the defendants are usually followed by default judgments. These typically include the particular penalties against the defendants, such as fines and bans.
The CFTC proceedings against the Israel-based binary options scam have been ongoing for quite some time (about 17 months). Some of the reasons for the delays include difficulties in locating the defendants (especially, Yossi Herzog) and effecting service on them.
One of the key defendants in the CFTC case is Lee Elbaz, who is currently appealing from her prison sentence in a related criminal case. Her appeal from the sentence has also resulted in a delay to the resolution of the case. Put briefly, victims of the fraudulent scheme have yet to get any compensation.
Yukom Communications and the entities linked to it fraudulently sold and marketed binary options to investors located in the United States and throughout the world through two websites, known as BinaryBook and BigOption. The defendants misled investors using BinaryBook and BigOption by falsely claiming to represent the interests of investors when, in fact, the owners of BinaryBook and BigOption profited when investors lost money.
The fraudulent scheme led investors to purchase more than $100 million in binary options.
Representatives of BinaryBook and BigOption, working under Elbaz’s supervision, misrepresented the terms of so-called “bonuses,” “risk free trades” and “insured trades,” and deceptively used these supposed benefits in a manner that in fact harmed investors.
October 25, 2021 @ 1:51 pm
Maria Nikolova, I have been receiving calls from a law firm involved in the lawsuit against Yocum Communications. I have not seen the pleadings, but I would like to know if Yocum Communications had or has controlling interest in another scam – Brookfield Investment Fund PLC and/or Kaloca Inc.
October 25, 2021 @ 2:57 pm
Hi Joel!
Thank you for your comment.
I’m afraid the people who contacted you are scammers. I recommend not replying to their phone calls/emails. This is a lawsuit brought by the CFTC and no law firms representing consumers are involved.
Re-Brookfield, I cannot be sure about all entities Yukom had business with. However, in this particular lawsuit, Brookfield is not mentioned. I recommend you try contacting the CFTC if you have any suspicions that you are contacted by binary option fraudsters. You can also make use of the DOJ webpage for victims: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/yakov-cohen-et-al
Good luck!
January 10, 2022 @ 11:58 am
Maria,
This is interesting and great for USA victims.
I am in Australia and lost $600K USD to a scam known as Muller & Bradley
I have been approached by Limburg Law Office GMBH requesting I sign for them to recover debt from Yukom Communications Ltd.
Are you able t shed any light on
Muller & Bradley as part of Yukom communications ltd?
or indeed Limburg.
Very much appreciated
email Garry@gdb-ent,com
+61416803100
January 10, 2022 @ 12:11 pm
I would dare to advise you to stay away from all such recovery services. The CFTC and the DOJ are handling this matter and will advise accordingly. The Justice Department has explicitly warned about victims of Yukom being approached by debt recovery scammers. Please, consult the Justice Department webpage for victim notifications.
This is what the DOJ says:
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) are alerting the public, especially individuals who sent funds to BinaryBook, BigOption, or other binary options companies, to be aware of scams in which individuals claim to be working to refund investor funds. The FBI and DOJ have recently learned that individuals claiming to be calling on behalf of the DOJ, the FBI, or accounting firms hired by law enforcement agencies have contacted investors falsely claiming that they are working to refund money to investors. Scammers appear to be targeting individuals who have previously sent money to binary options entities. These individuals request certain information from investor victims, such as driver’s license and banking information, falsely promising that this information is necessary to process refunds.
The FBI and DOJ have not authorized any employees or affiliates of BigOption, BinaryBook, or any other entity to act on their behalf in contacting investors. The public is reminded that the FBI and DOJ do not call private citizens requesting money or bank account information and to never give out unsolicited requests for personal information to callers that you don’t know.
January 25, 2022 @ 1:11 pm
I have also been contacted by L.. L… that promises that the ongoing process in Hong Kong against Yukom Communications will give me back the losses maid in XTRADERFX. I have lost a lot of money and all that they need was an upfront payment of more than 10%, to recover more than I lost.
I am aware that this text written by Maria Nikolova is more that one year old but… I never lose hope…
January 25, 2022 @ 1:19 pm
Do not respond to solicitations by such firms. Just don’t. The CFTC and the DOJ have issued warnings about such “recovery” entities several times. The moment you got that upfront payment request should have raised the red flag.
Good luck!
(And, please, do not mention any names of such recovery firms in the comments. Any mention of such scammers is considered fraudulent advertisement and the comment will be flagged as spam.)
April 7, 2022 @ 3:07 am
hi, Maria. we invested with a so-called trader connected to Yukom Communications, it added up to AUD1720. we were contacted by a law firm in Switzerland offering to recover the money plus a large amount for “personal punitive damages” We saw a red flag when they wanted over $3000 upfront payment and did cut contact with them. so we are glad that we have lost a relatively small amount compered to some. regards Heike
April 7, 2022 @ 7:59 am
Hi Heike! Sorry about the trouble you’ve been through and the money lost. But you did great by not responding to recovery scammers. Stay safe.
March 23, 2023 @ 2:58 pm
I need to some help to find out the actors behind Yukom. We know that some banks are at the end of the chain selling the binary options…