Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) today announced it has issued orders for the blocking of access to 17 unauthorized investment websites.

The websites targeted by the latest orders are:

• “Quantiumax” (website https://quantiumax.one);
• “Bloomquix” (website https://bloomquix.com);
• “Siranogroup” (website https://siranogroup.biz);
• “Infinite Markets” (website https://infinitemarkets.trade);
• “CMC Trading” (website https://genesis-arbit.com);
• “Genesis-Arbit” (website https://cmctradingeu.com);
• “Hubtrading” (website https://hubtrading.com);
• “Renditanzia” (websites: https://renditanziait.com; https://renditanzia-it.com; https://renditanziaai.com; https://renditanziaaibot.com; https://renditanziabot.com; https://renditanzia.xyz; https://renditanziaofficial.com; https://renditanzia.online; https://renditanzia.sbs; https://renditanzia.it).

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 operated by unauthorised financial intermediaries – to 1,878. Of these, 260 relate to crypto-asset-related activities.

Consob noted 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, celebrities and content generated using artificial intelligence systems – such as images, voices or videos – with the aim of persuading investors to make harmful investment decisions.