EFRI Funds Recovery Campaign Against Fraudulent Online Broker Sites Launched

EFRI – the European Funds Recovery Initiative – today officially launches its funds recovery campaign for the online trading scams around the Israeli scam artist Gal BARAK. Through its Bulgarian based E&G Bulgaria, Gal BARAK not only operates a variety of different websites and brands but also through call centers (boiler rooms). Boiler room employees terrorize customers and potential customers with cold calls to deposit funds on these fraudulent platforms. According to the information available to us, there are thousands of defrauded customers in the UK, Germany, and Austria. German law firms such as CLLB and Herfurtner are already acting against the scheme on behalf of their clients.

In the past, the illegal broker sites SafeMarkets, Golden Markets, and XTraderFX were active in the field of binary options. After the ban of the binary options, they bet now on CFDs, cryptocurrencies and FOREX. One of the big issues with illegal brokers is that customers’ money is not held on segregated customer accounts as required by the supervisory authorities for regulated brokers, but on the operational bank accounts of the brokers. Customer funds are regularly misappropriated to finance their mostly elaborate lifestyles and vast organizations.

Moreover, customers’ orders are typically not passed on to regulated stock exchanges or brokers for execution. Basically, customers’ trading transactions are fake. Even in the unlikely event that customers win, these profits are often not paid out. The illegal broker call this “retention management” as the U.S. authorities pointed out in their lates indictments. Customers of SafeMarkets, Golden Markets, XTraderFX and other illegal brokers usually lose all their money.

The EFRI campaign collects the claims of cheated customers and claims them directly from the operators (beneficial owners) via lawyers such as the German law firm CLLB. EFRI also works closely with law enforcement agencies in different countries to share information and ensure effective prosecution where necessary to recover funds and close down illegal broker sites.

In the case of SafeMarkets, Golden Markets, and XTtraderFX, after months of research, EFRI is aware of the beneficial owners and senior staff. These can, therefore, be called upon directly.

File Your Claim

Cheated investors can file their claims here on EFRI. At the same time, EFRI may also report the claim to the relevant law enforcement authorities.

File Your Claim