Online investment scams rarely begin with one large bank transfer. They usually start much earlier: with an online advertisement, a registration form, a small first deposit, a fake trading account, a dashboard showing apparent profits, repeated calls from an “account manager”, and a withdrawal process that becomes increasingly difficult. For
ESMA: Unauthorised CASPs Must Wind Down On 23 June 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a clear warning to crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) that have not obtained authorisation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). After the end of the MiCA transitional period on 1 July 2026,
Meta, TikTok and Google are facing consumer complaints in Europe over financial scam advertisements. But the key question goes beyond platform compliance: if regulators impose fines, why should the money disappear into public budgets while the victims remain uncompensated? On 21 May 2026, BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, together with
On 25 June 2026, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales is scheduled to hear the appeal in the Hamblin & Anor v Moorwand Ltd & Anor [2025] EWHC 817 (Ch). The case deserves attention far beyond the United Kingdom. It raises a question that is central to modern
Modern Fraud Has Become Infrastructure Modern online fraud is no longer a collection of isolated scams. It has become infrastructure. Large-scale online investment fraud operates through networks of online advertising, social media manipulation, call centres, fake trading platforms, shell companies, payment service providers, acquiring banks, bank accounts, crypto ramps, nominee
PSD2 Fraud Transaction Monitoring: The Starting Point Before analysing the proposed Payment Services Regulation, it is important to understand the current PSD2 framework. Under Article 2 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389, payment service providers must have transaction monitoring mechanisms that enable them to detect unauthorised or fraudulent payment transactions.
Enhanced transaction monitoring under the PSR is old wine in new bottles. The bottle is better. The protection for victims is still not good enough
EFRI’s Payvision Report: when payment infrastructure becomes fraud infrastructure
Today, EFRI sent a formal letter to the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia and to European institutions concerned with the rule of law, consumer protection and asset recovery. Here you can read the full letter (translation). We represent 62 victims from across Europe who have been waiting for more
ING’s new AML settlement and the same message ING Belgium has agreed to pay a €1.6 million criminal settlement in a money-laundering investigation linked to transactions involving Didier Reynders, the former Belgian minister and former EU Commissioner for Justice. According to reporting on the Brussels prosecutor’s announcement, the case concerned
