After the arrest of the Israeli Gal Barak, the mastermind and operator of E&G Bulgaria and its many illegal broker schemes, the various fraudulent sites remained online. For weeks after the enforcement action SafeMarkets, Golden Markets and XTraderFX continued to damage retail investors. Following interventions by FinTelegram with the authorities in Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria, at least SafeMarkets, Golden Markets, and XtraderFX were closed down. This is good news in principle, but investors should be extremely cautious. Contrary to the public statements on the websites, the handling of the repayments is apparently not done by lawyers, but by offshore constructions of the operators themselves.
Good News: Illegal Broker Sites Closed Down
On the three websites of the E&G Bulgaria schemes, you can read that the operators will cooperate with the competent authorities. Of course, they do, they have to because their mastermind Gal Barak was arrested and waits for his extradition to Austria. They are the perpetrators and not the good guys. Clients of the schemes are asked to contact the operators under the emails and phone numbers given below:
Emails:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Phone:
- SafeMarkets: +44-20-808-98275 (
- XtraderFX: +44-20-396-66921, DE: +4(930)308-06693
- Golden Markets: +44-13-588-78529
So far this sounds like at least an orderly procedure for the thousands of injured parties concerned. Even under the unlikely situation that the closing down of these illegal broker schemes is handled properly by law firms, it seems almost certain that clients will lose most or all of their money.
Bad News – Closing Handled By Operators?
The websites inform clients that lawyers of the operators will handle the processing. Unfortunately, that does not correspond to the facts. The FinTelegram team called the German phone number given on XtraderFX website and has learned that the company is now being closed and liquidated. The boiler room lady informed FinTelegram that clients are asked to announce themselves under the following email address.
Well, and at this point, another red flag is to be raised for the clients of these schemes. The domain www.claim-service.biz was registered only two days ago by
Gal Barak used this Seagulf Ltd to launder illicit money from his illicit broker schemes into offshore destinations. Via Investbank in Bulgaria those payments have been processed. FinTelegram has extensive documentation on this money flow. It’s ridiculous that one of this money laundering companies of Gal Barak handles the proper closing down.
Why this information is not given on the web pages, may be assumed. Evidently, it does sound better to tell clients that law firms will handle the closing down.
It is apparently not law firms that take care of the proper handling of the closing down of these illegal broker sites. From a legal and regulatory point of view, investors’ money would have to be held in segregated accounts and thus should not be affected by the closing. FinTelegram has information that proves that investors’ money has never been held in separate accounts. Therefore, we fear a total loss for the many thousands of investors of the affected sites.
Clients should be extremely careful in dealing with these guys. We recommend to record calls, make screenshots of Skype/WhatsApp/Telegram messages and document all communication.
FinTelegram already informed the authorities about this strange approach. It’s actually hard to understand how the perpetrators can be allowed to arrange the closing down in the first place.
Report Feedback To EFRI
Please provide your feedback regarding your refunding claims with SafeMarkets, XTraderFX, and Golden Markets to our EFRI campaign. Our EFRI team will do the best to support clients of these schemes in the handling of the respective claims.
Optionstarsglobal.com closed also
Thank you for intel :). Together we can do that!
Optionstars website is down also! Chexk it out! Same message different phone!
Georgian or Serbian boilers call on behalf of 4xfx.com. So new operation starts…why do they still operate? Why doesn’t local enforcements close them? Why is this allowed on EU soil? Is EU so passive and incompetent, that FBI has to initiate the action, so they could follow? Why does USA care about its citizens more then any EU country? It is a discrace! Mark my words, once 4xfx is down, new one will appear, with same guys behind (in custody or not). Why just not close all boilers, like a raid in Ukraine? Seems someone is paying goos money to delay the process. In the meantime hundreds will be damaged.
Also, why are affiliates who provide leads not targeted as they source new clients? Without new leads and PSPs, no scam industry can last for more then a few months.
It’s really simple…
I was scammed in April 2018. I sent a letter to Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB); Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, USA); Financial Conduct Authority (FCA, UK); and Financial Services Commission (VFCS) in Vanuatu. But none of them took action. I’m about to sign up with Finance-Recovery China (info @ finance-recovery.ch) Hope for their legitimacy and ability to stand promises. Will let know.