Italy’s CONSOB orders blocking of access to websites of Forexelite, TBMarket, Imperialcap-24

Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders for the blocking of access to five unauthorised investment websites.

The websites targeted by CONSOB’s orders are:

• “TBMarket” (website https://tbmarket.co);
• “Ahfultra” (website https://ahfultra.co and related page https://app.ahfultra.co);
• “Forexelite Limited – Elite Trading Academy Limited” (website https://forexelite.trade and related page https://my.forexelite.trade);
• Top Markets Ltd and Imperialcap-24 Limited (website https://imperialcap-24.com and related page https://wt.imperialcap-24.com);
• “PepperstoneTrade” (website www.pepperstoneltd.co and related page https://client.pepperstoneltd.co).

It is worth noting that some of these websites belong to clones, that is, entities that abuse the data (address, name, logo) of authorised businesses in order to lure victims more easily.

The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1094. Last week, the regulator ordered the blocking of access to five unauthorised websites, including those operated by GMT Brokers Ltd and TopTierCapital.

The black-out of these websites by Internet service providers operating in Italy is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the blocking to be implemented.

Consob draws investors’ attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.