Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of access to five unauthorized investment websites.

The websites targeted by the latest orders are:

• “mibinvestcfd.com” (website https://mibinvestcfd.com and page https://client.mibinvestcfd.com);
• “Omenyxgroup.com” (website https://omenyxgroup.com and related page https://inv.omenyxgroup.com);
• “Nexus Ai Group Limited” (website https://nexusaigrouplimited.io and related page https://cfd.nexusaigrouplimited.io);
• “Pendoxa” (website https://pendoxa.com and related page https://webtrader.pendoxa.com);
• “Novate-cfd” (website https://novate-cfd.com and related page https://wt.novate-cfd.com).

This brings the total number of websites blocked by Consob since July 2019 to 1,723. Back in July 2019, the Authority was granted the power to order the blocking of the websites of unauthorized financial intermediaries. Of the total of 1,723 websites blocked so far, 204 concern crypto-related activities.

The Authority has exercised the powers granted by the “Growth Decree” to block the websites of unauthorized financial intermediaries.

Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently blocking their websites. For technical reasons, the actual blocking may take several days.

It is important for investors to exercise utmost diligence to make fully informed investment decisions, adopting common sense practices that are essential to safeguarding their savings. These include prior verification, for websites offering investment services and crypto-assets, that the operator through which they are investing is authorized and, for financial products and crypto-assets, that the prospectus or white paper has been published.

Consob also notes the evolution 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 “cloned” emails and websites, fake profiles of political figures, celebrities, and AI-generated content—such as images, voices, or videos—with the aim of inducing savers to make harmful investment decisions.