Swedish watchdog warns against ‘1,000% profit’ firm

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The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has issued a public warning against an investment firm that’s allegedly luring investors with promises of guaranteed high returns. Known as Fortuna Private Investments, the firm claims to be based and licensed in Sweden, which the regulator refutes.

In its warning, the regulator, better known as Finansinspektionen or simply FI, urged the public to be cautious in dealing with the firm as it’s not authorized to conduct business in Sweden.

On its website, the company claims to be based in Kista, a district in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, with other offices in Alberta, Canada and Wellington, New Zealand. It describes itself as a technology-powered investment firm that provides its clients with “an unmatched alternative investment experience.” The firm claims to invest primarily in the foreign exchange market, applying a unique algorithm to generate profits.

To join Fortuna, investors must make a minimum deposit of $3,000 for a standard account or $10,000 for a VIP account.

The firm makes bold statements of guaranteed returns, including at least a 20% monthly return and an eyebrow-raising 1,165.75% average annual return. In the first four months of the year, it claims to have generated an average of 17.5% in profits for its investors despite the effects of the pandemic.

Fortuna also claims to have partnered with MultiBank, a Mexico-based global financial derivatives broker that’s active in forex and CFD markets.

The watchdog warned, “Fortuna Private Investments is neither authorised by FI to conduct securities business or other financial services, nor under FI’s supervision. FI has not received any notification of cross-border activities from other EEA countries.”

FI cautioned the public against doing business with firms that aren’t authorized to offer their services in Sweden. Doing so puts the investors’ money at risk and limits the measures that the regulator can take to protect the investors.

Sweden has been targeted by a number of scam campaigns in the past two years as digital currencies become more popular in the Scandinavian country. This year, a Ukrainian firm was exposed by a whistleblower to have targeted elderly Swedes in a digital currency scam. Orchestrated by a firm known as Milton Group, the scam was alleged to have made away with over $70 million from its victims.