It was brought to the attention of the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA” or “the Authority”) that an individual residing overseas received a letter making unauthorised use of a seal belonging to the MFSA together with the logo of the Central Bank of Malta. This letter appears to be making requests for payment of fines relating to money being held in the sender’s account. Further to such request, the recipient has been provided with a Bitcoin account to which the mentioned fines are to be transferred.
The MFSA wishes to inform the public, in Malta and abroad, that the letter was NOT sent by the Authority and likely relates to a scheme of dubious nature with a high risk of loss of money.
The MFSA strongly advises the public that prior to entering into financial services transactions offered by unsought communication one should be extra cautious and verify that the individual and/or entity with whom the transaction is being made is duly authorised to provide such services by the MFSA or another financial services regulatory authority as applicable.
For more information on scams please refer to the Scam Detection Guidelines issued by the MFSA at https://www.mfsa.mt/consumers/scams-warnings/typical-scams/. If you are a victim of a scam or any other type of financial scam or think you might be dealing with an unauthorised entity, first of all stop all transactions with the company and contact the Authority at https://www.mfsa.mt/about-us/contact/ as soon as a suspicion arises.
Verżjoni bil-Malti
Ġie mressaq għall-attenzjoni tal-Awtorità ta’ Malta għas-Servizzi Finanzjarji (“MFSA” jew “l-Awtorità”) li individwu residenti barra minn Malta rċieva ittra li tagħmel użu mhux awtorizzat ta’ siġill li jappartjeni għall-MFSA flimkien mal-logo tal-Bank Ċentrali ta’ Malta. Din l-ittra tidher li qed tagħmel talbiet għall-ħlas ta' multi relatati ma' flus miżmuma fil-kont tal-mittent. Fl-ittra ir-riċevitur ingħata kont tal-Bitcoin li fih għandhom jiġu trasferiti l-multi msemmija
L-MFSA tixtieq tavza lill-pubbliku f’Malta u barra minn Malta li din l-ittra MA KINITX mibgħuta mill-Awtorità u x'aktarx għandha x'taqsam ma' skema ta’ natura dubjuża b’riskju għoli ta’ telf ta’ flus.
L-MFSA tagħti parir qawwi lill-pubbliku li qabel ma jidħol fi tranżazzjonijiet ta’ servizzi finanzjarji, offruti minn komunikazzjoni mhux mitluba, wieħed għandu jkun estremament attent u jivverifika li l-individwu u/jew l-entità li magħha qed issir it-tranżazzjoni hija awtorizzata kif suppost biex tipprovdi tali servizzi mill-MFSA jew minn awtorità regolatorja oħra tas-servizzi finanzjarji kif applikabbli.
Għal aktar informazzjoni dwar qerq (scams) jekk jogħġbok irreferi għas-“Scam Detection Guidelines” maħruġa mill-MFSA fuq https://www.mfsa.mt/consumers/scams-warnings/typical-scams/. Jekk int vittma ta' qerq jew xi tip ieħor ta’ ingann finanzjarju, jew taħseb li tista' tkun qed tittratta ma’ entità mhux awtorizzata, l-ewwelnett waqqaf it-tranżazzjonijiet kollha mal-kumpanija u ikkuntattja lill-Awtorità fuq https://www.mfsa.mt/about-us/contact/ hekk kif ikun hemm suspett.
