Hanfa Warns: XueX Continues Fraud Through New Website

The dust has barely settled after thousands of Croatian citizens lost their money, and the platform XueX, which was behind that pyramid scheme, has already begun a new ‘shearing’. The financial regulator, the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa), on Thursday urged citizens to exercise caution as it has been noted that XueX EG Investment Group (XueX) continues its activities aimed at defrauding citizens. In doing so, XueX is using new names and contacting citizens through new channels.

– In recent days, Croatian media have reported and pointed out the activities of the entity XueX, which represent financial fraud through a pyramid scheme (so-called Ponzi scheme). Hanfa emphasizes that Ponzi schemes are examples of fraud that are not related to the operations of Hanfa’s supervised entities. In this case, it is not a registered company that is a supervised entity of Hanfa, and Hanfa is not authorized to carry out procedures against it. Therefore, Hanfa urges citizens to be cautious and to contact the police in case of suspicion of such fraud – they claim at Hanfa.

From this institution, they emphasize that they have noticed that XueX has continued its activities through new groups on Telegram, a new name, and a fake website called www.sklcoinc.com. Entry into the mentioned fake investment group on Telegram can be achieved either by paying a certain amount of money (300 – 1000 dollars) or by receiving an invitation from friends who forward a code to enter the group.

– We warn citizens not to join the mentioned groups and not to send money to fraudsters even if they are often invited to the group by their acquaintances – say at Hanfa.

Let us remind you, XueX promoted very easy earnings from cryptocurrency trading through that platform. Investments started from 1000 euros and more, on the condition that the XueX application is installed, a Telegram account is opened, and the person has a Revolut bank card. Last Friday, around 5 PM, XueX collapsed. Hanfa reminds citizens to pay attention to signs of potential fraud:

• The company does not have a license to operate, i.e., it is not listed in Hanfa’s Registers
• Promises of high and unrealistic earnings
• Urgency – now, immediately, a unique opportunity
• The website lacks all necessary elements (name of the regulator, general terms of business, etc.)
• Pay attention to potential counterfeit logos and signatures of institutions
• Focus on recruiting others – profit is made through bringing in new members, rather than through real products or services
• Additional payment is required to withdraw earned funds (e.g., fake tax obligations, transaction fees, etc.)

– We advise citizens to be extremely cautious when receiving investment offers from unknown individuals or companies, whether through closed groups on social networks, by phone, or through responses to online ads. We emphasize that citizens should thoroughly inform themselves about whom they will be dealing with before making an investment decision. First and foremost, we recommend checking whether the company has a license to operate, i.e., whether the company is registered and regulated by Hanfa or has a license to operate in Croatia based on notification. They can do this by reviewing Hanfa’s Registers, and they can also contact Hanfa – states the warning.