FSCA’s Immediate Matrix warning

This week, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued a statement to warn the public to “be cautious” when dealing with an outfit called Immediate Matrix.

“It has come to the attention of the FSCA that Immediate Matrix may be providing financial services to members of the public without being authorised to do so.

“Immediate Matrix has used images of well-known individuals, such as Mr Elon Musk and Mr Patrice Motsepe, as part of its advertising and marketing campaign. The FSCA suspects that Immediate Matrix is using the images of these well-known personalities without their consent [a so-called deep fake],” according to the FSCA statement.

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It goes on to say: “Without commenting on the business of Immediate Matrix, the FSCA points out that entities offering investments in financial products to South African citizens and/or within South Africa are required to be authorised by the FSCA. Immediate Matrix is not authorised in terms of any financial sector law to provide financial products or render financial services.”

However, this time, the trail leads to a broker that is indeed authorised by the FSCA.

Walking the trail

The trail starts with a video of Elon Musk promising people thousands of dollars in profit while sitting at home. The article and video are made to look as if they were posted by News24 but are obviously fake.

The exact same article has been used before and made to look as if it was published by other news channels, including CNN and Fox News.

The one the FSCA warned about this week states Musk visited News24 last week. “Elon dropped a bombshell when he announced that his new cryptocurrency trading platform was launched at the end of last year, although it was in closed testing. The platform first launched in the US in January 2022, but as of a few days ago, it has also become available worldwide.

“I’ve been interested in cryptocurrencies for a long time and I can say directly that this is a gold mine in the near future, the main thing is not to miss this opportunity. My best people at OpenAI have accomplished the impossible. They brought together the best investing gurus and wrote a complex algorithm for buying and selling cryptocurrencies for those who are weary of being in debt forever and working long hours.

“At the stage of closed testing, I received threats from large American banks since it is not lucrative for them that people could live in dignity without debts and credit cards. It will hit their income significantly, but I’m determined to give people what they deserve.

“Elon wanted to continue, but he was cut off by the presenter’s announcement that the program was coming to a conclusion. According to our information, the chief producer received a call from Bank of America and was asked to end the show. Apparently, Elon was telling the truth about the threats he was receiving,” according to the fake article.

It then explains how News24 opened an account to test the algorithm and how it made thousands of dollars.

The article urges people to register for the easy money immediately before the banks or government shut it down. It creates a sense of urgency by saying there are only a few places left to guarantee wealth. The links to register lead to Immediate Matrix.

Immediate Matrix

Immediate Matrix describes itself as “an intuitive and streamlined Bitcoin trading and management platform that has become a premier trading and analysis destination for new and seasoned traders alike.”

However, the small print discloses that Immediate Matrix merely collects leads for third parties. All the promises of guaranteed returns and easy money have disappeared.

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The terms and conditions of use of the Immediate Matrix website state that service providers will not give investment advice or solicit investments unless the third party “commits to offer you only educational services or market research”.

The small print at the bottom of the website contains a gem, presumably referring to the fake videos distributed elsewhere: “The video is for commercial presentation and illustration purposes only and all participants are actors.”

The only way to contact Immediate Matrix is to fill out a contact form, which leads to a broker in derivatives.

CMTrading

Registering on the Immediate Matrix website leads to CMTrading, licensed by the FSCA to offer derivative broking services in SA.

CMTrading did not respond to emails sent to the company’s published email addresses. Moneyweb could not get hold of a person to speak to either, as all the published telephone numbers for CMTrading are answered by an automatic service. The only option in the message repeats the welcome message.

The telephone number listed on the FSCA database as the contact number for the firm’s compliance officer went unanswered. CMTrading also did not respond to emails asking why they use Immediate Matrix and fake videos and articles to solicit new clients.

Read: FSCA warns against dubious brokers, platforms offering easy money

The CMTrading website discloses that CMTrading is the trading name for GCMT Limited, registered as a securities dealer in Seychelles and licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles. GCMT South Africa Pty Ltd trades as CMTrading and is registered with the FSCA.

The FSCA says that Immediate Matrix was not available for comment, adding the usual warning that members of the public should always check:

• That an entity or individual is authorised by the FSCA to provide financial products and services, including for giving recommendations about how to invest.
• What category of advice the person is registered to provide, as there are instances where companies or people are registered to provide basic advice for a low-risk product and then offer advice on far more complex and risky products.
• That the financial services provider (FSP) number utilised by the entity or individual offering financial services matches the name of the FSP on the FSCA database.

These checks came up valid – and without commenting on the business of CMTrading – the question remains on why a licensed broker will use blatantly fake advertising.

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