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

The list of blocked websites includes https://paladinoselegancia.com, through which an advertising campaign was carried out concerning an abusive brokerage platform, including through the improper reference to public figures, such as journalist Sigfrido Ranucci, host of Report on RaiTre. The other five blocked sites on which the Authority intervened were illegally offering financial intermediation services.

• “Mrx Capital Trading” (website https://mrxcapitaltrading.co and related page https://trading-area.mrxwebtrading.co);
• “FtseWebTrader” (website www.ftsetradeai.com and related pages https://client.ftsetradeai.com and https://webtrader.ftsetradeai.com);
• “Aurora Trade Limited” (website https://aurora-trade.io and related page https://cfd.aurora-trade.io);
• “Horizon Options247” (website https://horizonoption247.com);
• “Aitrade24” (website https://aitrade24.net and related page https://webtrader.aitrade24.net);
• “https://paladinoselegancia.com – Bitplex”.

The regulator draws investors’ attention to the evolution of fraudulent practices that exploit the internet and social media to steal users’ money and personal data. Today, fraudulent operators use sophisticated tools, such as cloned messages and websites, fake profiles of famous people, and content generated by artificial intelligence systems – such as images, voices, or videos – with the aim of luring investors into a trap.

The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blocked, has thus risen to 1496.

In issuing the orders, Consob availed itself of the powers deriving from the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree” Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), as well as the powers introduced by the “Legge Capitali” (“Capital Law”, Law No. 21 of March 5, 2024).

Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently blocking access to the websites. For technical reasons, it may take a few days for the blocking to be implemented.