Is Top Crypto Trading Company FTX a Scam? UK’s FCA Thinks So

• FTX is not registered in the UK and is not eligible to offer any of its services to customers and investors in the UK.
• The FCA warns UK residents of engaging with any company or individual which is not registered by them for financial services.

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warns investors that the FTX crypto exchange is unregistered in the country. FTX is not authorized to provide services to customers in the UK. FCA says that the UK is being targeted and any loss of funds is unlikely to be retrieved because the firm is not a registered company.

Customers and investors engaging with unauthorized firms cannot access the Financial Ombudsman Service which settles disputes between companies and individuals, the FCA said. Companies and individuals promoting, offering, or selling financial services or products in the UK have been registered and authorized by the FCA’s registry for financial services.

According to an FTX spokesperson, the numbers listed are not authentic and are associated with a scam. They believe that phone numbers listed on the FCA register are tied to a scammer trying to impersonate FTX. The three phone numbers have all been flagged several times. FTX pointed out that they are looking into it and will solve the issue.

CEO Sam Bankman Fried took to Twitter;

Heads up: a scammer has been impersonating FTX in the UK by phone! Please only use https://t.co/ZcBNEuyQvH, https://t.co/6mG6iOFv3o, https://t.co/X88vVFRKde, etc. to access FTX, and do not respond to any phone numbers etc. FTX will never call you by phone.

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) September 19, 2022

The multi-billion dollar crypto trading firm has risen to greatness in the past few years especially because of its role in attempting to save large crypto firms that crashed during the market downturn earlier this year.

FCA has also put on the spot other companies like Binance Market Limited which was banned from offering services in the UK. FCA accused Binance of withholding information regarding where the company is based and how it is run. Since then, CEO Changpeng Zhao has said that the company will work with the FCA to regain its position in the region.