Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of access to three crypto websites that cloned the faces and voices of well-known politicians.
Consob ordered the blocking of three websites that used scam ads to promote initiatives by entities not authorized to provide investment and crypto services, capitalizing on the reputation of leading figures in the Italian institutional world, such as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Elly Schlein and Carlo Calenda who had nothing to do with the matter.
In particular, following the measures already implemented, the Authority banned promotions on websites that promoted online platforms through which they illegally provided crypto asset or investment services.
The Commission also ordered the blocking of another 14 websites that illegally offered financial services. Specifically, the blocked websites are the following:
- “InvestiumGroups” (website and pages
- “Protradealliance” (web
- “Aureo Flowdex” (site
- “Servelius” (site and page
- “BrokerageAI” – “it-more.culinaryjoy.sbs” (site related pages and promotion site
- “ZZCoin” (site
- “Ofuyc” (websites www.ofuyc.com, www.ofuyc-32516it.com, www.ofuyc-55337it.com, www.ofuyc-23166it.com, www.ofuyc-33111it.com and www.ofuyc.com-8325);
- “Veltrixmax-invest.com” – “Ayquozeber.com” (site and promotion site
- “Orolonix-invest.com” – “Cyberirfy.icu” (site and promotion site
The number of websites taken down since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries to be blocked, has risen to 1443.
In issuing the orders, the Authority made use of the powers deriving from the “Decreto crescita” (“Decree on Growth” Law no. 58 of June 28, 2019, article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) and MiCAR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1112 Law September 2023/1112 and Legi. 2024).