Recently, Hanfa has called on the public not to fall for fake articles in which Finance Minister Marko Primorac recommends investing through fraudulent online platforms. These warnings from Hanfa have become more frequent in recent months, and it has been noted that previously, Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Emil Tedeschi, and other public figures were misused in such frauds.
The names of these platforms often change – for example, Stable Bitcap, Quantum, or Stable Capitalmax – while the link to which the ads lead remains the same, clearly indicating a fraud. Hanfa also mentions others: Trade Planet, Nexperts, Capitagains, Bitnixers, XBO Invest, UAB Bitmarkets, XF24, and others.
In such fake articles, like this one, it is stated that Minister Primorac recommends to Croatian citizens investing through these platforms and that it is a step towards creating an inclusive economy. Furthermore, it falsely claims that these platforms were developed with the support of Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ) and Hrvatski Telekom (HT) and in partnership with Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP), in order to give the entire publication additional, but false credibility. Finally, these pages promise citizens quick wealth through trading on various platforms, and they publish photographs of the mentioned individuals, luxury cars, expensive travels, and fake testimonials from alleged satisfied clients.
Due to the frequency of warning publications, we contacted Hanfa to clarify in detail what kind of frauds are involved and how citizens, including entrepreneurs, should protect themselves from such traps. Hanfa states that they receive complaints and inquiries from citizens due to suspicions of fraud. These are alleged investments in stocks or cryptocurrencies through various channels – by phone, mail, or email.
Private Assistance
– On average, 50 – 60 citizen reports on this topic are received monthly, of which about 40 relate to suspicions that they have been victims of investment frauds or have received suspicious offers, while the remaining inquiries concern checking companies or information about frauds. In recent years, we have noticed a trend of increasing numbers of such inquiries to Hanfa, and as far as we know, in a certain number of cases, affected citizens directly contact the police, the State Attorney’s Office, or legal professionals. Therefore, only a part of them addresses Hanfa, making it difficult to speak about the exact number – they tell us.
Additionally, Hanfa has noticed that some private entities are also reaching out to citizens claiming to offer assistance in recovering lost funds. They recommend caution in such cases as it could be an additional attempt at fraud and involve entities that are not necessarily legitimate.
The mentioned websites are created and disappear on a daily basis and are not something that happens only in Croatia but represent an international problem. They often change their name and internet domain in a very short time, and sometimes they are named similarly to real, registered companies. Visually, they appear convincing, and recently they have added ‘trading conditions’ copied from legal service providers, and sometimes they illegally use copies of logos from regulators or other organizations (such as Hanfa, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Central Bank, the World Bank, etc.), claiming to have regulatory approval, which is not true.
