Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) today announced that it has ordered the blocking of four unauthorized investment websites.

The websites targeted by the latest CONSOB orders are:

• “Goldgcapital” (website https://goldgcapital.net and associated page https://my.aipltfrm.com);
• “Tradoxium” (website https://tradoxiumpro.com and pages https://clientzone.tradoxiumpro.com and https://wt.quantivaedge.com);
• “FXPepper” (website https://fxpepper.eu and associated page https://portal.fxpepper.eu);
• “Money-Mentor.io” (website https://money-mentor.io and associated page https://cfd.money-mentor.io).

This brings the total number of websites blocked by Consob since July 2019 – when the Authority was granted the power to order the blocking of websites belonging to unauthorised financial intermediaries – to 1,838. Of these, 235 relate to crypto-related activities.

Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently taking steps to block access to the websites. For technical reasons, it may take a few days for the block to take effect.

Consob also stressed the evolving nature of deceptive practices that exploit the internet to steal users’ money and personal data: there has been an increase in the use of new tools, such as emails and ‘cloned’ websites, fake profiles of politicians and celebrities, and content generated by artificial intelligence systems – such as images, voices or videos – with the aim of persuading investors to make harmful investment decisions.