Through social media such as Facebook and Instagram, the advertisement has appeared. Different well-known people such as the Governor of the Swedish Central Bank Erik Thedéen or finance profiles Günther Mårder and Christer Gardell lure with quick stock profits if you join a closed group in the communication app WhatsApp.
Once there, proposals are made to invest in different stocks, preferably small and unknown Chinese companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York. Shortly thereafter, the stocks plummet. This happens when the scammers choose to sell their own holdings, so-called "pump and dump", and only deceived small investors remain, in many cases where one has lost everything one has invested.
Our picture is that this is a big problem and a very important issue. It's about confidence in the securities market, says Jimmy Kvarnström, head of the markets department at FI.
Request information
The authority will therefore request information from the four major banks as well as niche banks to get an estimate of the size of the losses. The estimate is that it may involve up to half a billion kronor in one of the cases.
To a large extent, it's about increasing awareness among consumers, but also that banks and trading platforms should look at these issues and be able to issue warnings, information, and perhaps introduce different types of blocks, says Jimmy Kvarnström.
Iran and Russia
The phenomenon is global and the Financial Times has previously reported that seven Chinese companies during a short period plummeted more than 80 percent on Nasdaq, which meant a lost market value of $3.7 billion. This after the stocks had risen sharply. The scammers are believed to have ties to Iran and Russia.
Jimmy Kvarnström tells TT that it primarily concerns people in their 60s and 70s who have been affected. The hopes of getting back the lost capital are however small:
It's likely so. One has moved the profits outside the banking system and that makes it difficult to take action.
