IFMRRC Scam

IFMRRC Scam.

IFMRRC is an acronym for a network of China-based scammers.  IFMRRC claims it is the International Financial Markets Relations Regulation Center.  This organisation claims to be a regulatory body for companies trading in the financial markets.

The scam is in two parts. The first is that scammers establish fake financial trading websites for non-existent companies e.g IB Markets Ltd.  Then IFMRRC announces on the IFMRRC website that the scam trading company has just passed the accreditation process.  This is to deceive potential investors into believing that the fake broker company is genuine.

How do fake financial trading websites make money ?  They con investors into depositing a small amount of cash with them and they give them access to trading software which allows them to trade forex, options, shares etc.  The software is designed to make the investor think they are trading in the market, but the reality is they are not.  The trades do not take place but the software makes it look like the investor is making a very good profit.

The salesman will contact the investor several times to encourage him/her to invest more money because the more money the investor is trading with the more profits they will make. The investor is conned because he/she can already see very good profits. Eventually the investor ends up investing much more money than he/she ever intended.  When the investor finally tells the salesman that they have no more money to invest one of two things happen.  Either the broker’s website suddenly disappears (which is the usual outcome) or the software starts to show losing trades which will ultimately result in the loss of all the invested funds. The intent is that the investor is led to believe that they lost their money through bad trades, but they actually lost all of it the moment they paid it over to the scammers. We have seen scam brokers continue in business for a long time because investors thought they had genuinely lost their money through bad trades.

The IFMRRC scam part is that it exists to give false reassurance to an investor.  Their website states that there is a Compensation Scheme for investors should they lose money to any of the broker firms which have been accredited by them.  This is where the follow-on-fraud kicks in.  IFMRRC knows that every investor who invests with these scam brokers is going to lose their money.  IFMRRC will now inform the victim that they do not have to worry.  The Compensation Scheme will pay out for the investor’s losses.  It is at this point that they will inform the investor that there are just a few costs that have to be covered, maybe an admin fee or local government tax or an escrow release fee.  If the investor pays the fee IFMRRC promises to send the compensation money to the investor.  Of course, IFMRRC will never pay any money to any investor.  It is just another very clever part of the scam.

We note the IFMRRC website referred to above contains a copyright protection statement dated 2011 – 2021.  There are also ‘News’ articles on the website which are dated as far back as 2010.  That’s pretty impressive considering the website was established in September 2017.  Those news items are fake.

The IFMRRC scam is operated by a sophisticated network of Chinese scammers.  Do not be fooled by it.