Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of four unauthorised investment websites, with FXPepper and Tradoxium among the operators targeted by the latest round of orders.
The regulator said the measures cover four operators it describes as unauthorised financial intermediaries — Goldgcapital, Tradoxium, FXPepper and Money-Mentor.io — spanning nine domains in total.
Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently taking steps to block access to the websites. CONSOB noted that, for technical reasons, it may take a few days for the block to take effect.
The latest orders bring the total number of websites blocked by CONSOB to 1,838 since July 2019, when the authority was granted the power to order the blocking of websites belonging to unauthorised financial intermediaries. Of those, 235 relate to crypto-related activities.
Regulator flags AI-generated content in investment scams
CONSOB also stressed the evolving nature of deceptive practices that exploit the internet to steal users’ money and personal data. The authority pointed to increased use of tools such as emails and ‘cloned’ websites, fake profiles of politicians and celebrities, and content generated by artificial intelligence systems — including images, voices or videos — with the aim of persuading investors to make harmful investment decisions.
