Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) on Wednesday, March 27, issued a warning to investors about an unlicensed company, “Equiity” allegedly impersonating to be Equiti, a licensed global broker based in Dubai.
The warning comes after Equiti, a pioneering fintech firm and world-class provider of online trading technology and multi-asset financial products, has reported fraudulent misrepresentations by Equiity, MRL Investments, and a Sharjah-based third-party contact center to the SCA, Khaleej Times reported.
Equiity exploit Equiti’s reputation, convincing victims to deposit funds through linked websites or apps. Misled investors report losses of up to half a million dollars including renowned Saudi Arabia’s influencer and Dubai bling star Lojain Omran.
Taking to Snapchat, Omran shared her experience of losing 27,000 dollars (Rs 22,50,223) to Equiity.
“Unfortunately, I am one of the victims, and they took advantage of me as a celebrity. They charged me $27,000,” Omran wrote in Arabic.
She stressed the significance of conducting thorough research before engaging with any financial entities.
In a statement, SCA said that the MRL Investments, operating under the website equiity.com, is not licensed by the authority to practice any of the activities subject to its control and supervision.
“Authority is not responsible for any dealings that take place with the aforementioned company in this capacity.”
SCA clarified that Equiity is not affiliated with Equiti, which is licensed by SCA to trade derivative contracts and currencies in the spot market.
It is reported that, Equiti collaborates with regulatory authorities to combat fraud and maintain industry integrity, urging investors to check website footers, call verified numbers, and refer to regulators’ websites for company contact details and license validity.
