Gov’t Calls for Vigilance Against Illegal Binary Option, Brokers

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The Anti Investment Scam Task Force (SWI) has called the public to be aware of unregistered binary options and brokers that not registered with Ministry of Trade’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti).

“Online trading activities carried out by binary options are illegal since the nature of their activities are gambling, no goods are traded. It just relies on pure luck,” the SWI Chairperson Tongam L. Tobing said as quoted from the webpage of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Saturday (02/19).

According to Tongam, the SWI has demanded affiliates and local influencers who have promoted unregistered binary options and brokers such as Binomo, Olymptrade, Quotex, and Octa FX as well as conducted trade training activities to stop the promotion and training activities and to remove all related content on their social media.

In addition, the SWI, he added, has also closed down twenty-one illegal entities suspected of carrying out business activities that have the potential to incur losses to the public, namely sixteen money game activities, three unlicensed crypto asset trading, and two unlicensed trading robot schemes.

The SWI, he continued, has also closed down fifty illegal online loan entities that circulate in mobile app store and on websites. The task force has also closed down five illegal pawnshops, he added.

For the record, from 2018 to February this year, the task force has closed 3,784 illegal online loan entities and also closed down 165 illegal pawnshops starting from 2019.

Tongam also urged the people not to be easily tempted by investment offers that provide very high and unreasonable returns, adding that people who need funds or pawn their goods for productive purposes can apply for a loan from the OJK’s licensed fintech lending/pawnshops. (PR of OJK/UN) (GWH/EP)