MGA, MFSA caution against imposter crypto coin

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) have issued a warning to Malta’s cryptocurrency enthusiasts regarding a cryptocurrency token going by the name of “Malta Gaming Authority”, which “has no affiliation with the MGA”.

In its statement issued last week, the MGA declared “no connection or affiliation with the cryptocurrency” which is referenced to on bscscan.com.

“Any statement or reference referring to any cryptocurrency purporting to be connected or affiliated to the MGA is false and misleading”, the Authority said.

Drawing attention to the statement in an announcement of its own, the MFSA reiterated that the claimed affiliation is “false and misleading”.

Additionally, it reminds consumers of financial services not to enter into any financial services transaction unless they have ascertained that the entity with who the transaction is being made is authorised to provide such services by the MFSA or another reputable financial services regulator.

“The activities of unlicensed entities are unregulated making transactions with such entities risky for consumers”, it adds.

The MGA is only the latest of Malta’s institutions to battle scammers misrepresenting themselves as the organisation.

The MFSA has previously been forced to issue a warning against fraudulent calls from scammers posing as the organisation, which likely “relate to a scheme of dubious nature with a high risk of loss of money”.

Malta’s Central Bank has also been forced to issue similar warnings in recent months.