The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has received a complaint regarding Stockbase.finance, a website claiming to be a forex broker. It appears this website has been taken down.
After investing in Bitcoin (“BTC”) on Stockbase.finance, the investor attempted to withdraw funds but was demanded by Stockbase.finance to pay various fees, such as a conversion fee and a fee for a “Manual Payments” service that would allow the investor to withdraw more than $20,000. It also appears that Stockbase.finance also demanded the investor pay the difference between the value of the BTC when the withdrawal request was made and the value of the BTC when the transfer was to occur. Stockbase.finance threatened to charge the investor a daily fee if the fee(s) were not paid by the due date(s). The investor claims to have lost $80,000 on Stockbase.finance.
On the Stockbase.finance website, they claim to be regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, with registration number 199667 B. Stockbase.finance states that their subsidiary, Stock Base PLC, is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registration number 434413) and they are incorporated in England and Wales (registration number 05367727). A search of the registration numbers shows the numbers are associated with another brokerage firm, ActivTrades Corp. It appears that Stockbase.finance is trying to impersonate a legitimate brokerage firm.
It also appears that Stockbase.finance was impersonating Blockchain.com. The letters sent to the investor demanding the aforementioned withdrawal fees be paid, included “Blockchain” and a logo similar to Blockchain.com’s in the letterhead.
The investor communicated with the following individuals over Telegram:
- Alexey Bogdanov (@fin_a_Bogdanov)
- Viktoria Koroleva (@viksi569)
The investor was instructed to send funds to the following Stockbase.finance cryptocurrency wallets:
- bc1q7ed4g8sd7tf8mzr93t8aadufn5x2nhyy9k8y7q
- 1GrKciXHWhd6tCLmQ894aRZFqvFjdFz9N7
- 171VeZWQCm8uoPrBxDkiQFwTU3adj7pGXj
- 1NJyUAoWo9Yy353NJJVHcnjN53Db6mHxPC
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advance Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms. Learn more about advance fee fraud.
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. Investment professionals need to be licensed with DFI to offer investments to Washington residents. In addition, most investment products sold need to be registered with DFI. To check the licensing status and to find out if there are any complaints against an investment professional or investment product, please visit FINRA Brokercheck or contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding an investment product or service, they may file a complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers
Social Media and Investment Fraud