Dukascopy to Take Legal Action Against GCG Asia for Impersonation

GCG Asia, a firm that has been falsely claiming to be in partnership with Dukascopy, a Swiss crypto bank, has finally been called out by the bank on February 27, 2019.

Mask Off

While the amounts of money being lost to crypto scammers have gone up in the last few years, there are some clear consistencies in their methods. One of these is gaining social proof through impersonation.

By impersonating well-known individuals such as Elon Musk or top firms such as Monex, fraudsters can gain the trust of those they wish to exploit.

Now, Dukascopy, a Swiss-based cryptocurrency bank, is fighting back against this by naming and shaming an organization falsely claiming to be in partnership with them. On February 27, 2019, they put out an announcement warning customers about GCG Asia, a firm that has claimed to be a partner of Dukascopy.

“Please mind that contrary to the fraudulent allegations of GCG Asia, GCG Asia is not in collaboration with Dukascopy Bank or with any other entity of Dukascopy Group,” the press release said.

This isn’t the first time that a company has been called out by name for impersonation of this manner. In August 2018, the FCA in the United Kingdom put out a formal warning about Fair Oaks Crypto, a firm that was claiming to be affiliated with Fair Oaks Capital Ltd in a bid to scam investors.

Stopping the Menace

Dukascopy has made it clear that their actions will go beyond just a public statement calling out GCG Asia but will extend to legal action as well. The bank reported:

“GCG Asia is fraudulently using Dukascopy’s name and logo for attracting clients/investors, without Dukascopy Bank’s permission. We are taking actions against this dishonest organization.”

It is also advised that crypto users and potential investors always confirm the validity of claims made by organizations by reaching out to them before they hand over any money. Dukascopy’s legal pursuits will send a clear warning that this fraud will not be taken lying down.

It isn’t always possible to warn users in time about the activities of scammers. Case in point, when Elon Musk was impersonated on Twitter, a number of people had already fallen victim to the scam before word had gotten out that it was false and shut down by the social media platform.