TradeUP - initiators targeted by Finma

31.01.2023
TradeUP implies that investors are provided with excellent opportunities to make both fast and safe money in online trading. With TradeUP, it's all investment fraud. The money has gone straight into the pockets of the investment scammers. Not a cent has been invested. Nothing is traded on TradeUP.fm. Everything the investor sees on his screen is a deception of the investors. Have you had the same experience? How do investors get their money back from dubious providers? What can investors do who have been deceived by TradeUP? What help is there for investment fraud?


 


TradeUP: The domain entry is hidden!
Of course, the investment scammers do not want to be easily tracked down. That is why the website does not have a meaningful imprint, which is required by law, with the full details and an address of the website operators. The domain data of the TradeUP.fm website also contain no indication of who once registered the site, but only that the registration was made on 07.09.2022 with NameCheap, Inc. and that the real domain owners are hiding - as we would expect - behind an anonymisation service provider. It should give you pause for thought that the company, which claims to have existed since 1977, is only launching its own website in 2022.

 

TradeUP: Who is behind it?
Investors will not be able to answer this question. The investment fraudsters disguise their identity perfectly - almost. This is normal, because they regularly operate various websites on which they offer their fraudulent business model. The former predecessor platform of TradeUP was called Coinswap (coinswap.fm). Here, the victims were also led to believe that it was a reputable company with the help of which fantastic profits could be made. But here, too - as on the subsequent TradeUP site - it was merely a matter of fleecing the gullible investors to the maximum. Coinswap was registered - also with NameCheap, Inc. and also anonymously, of course - on 16.07.2021, but can no longer be accessed. The unsuspecting investors of yesteryear were transferred to TradeUP overnight and should henceforth do their business via the successor platform.

 

TradeUP: Who is the operator?
On the TradeUP website there is only scanty information about this. In addition to the obligatory support e-mail address, potential investors are given the contact telephone number +442081571467 with a British country code, but this does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the platform's operators. The address is Hardstrasse 201 in 8005 Zurich, Switzerland. This is where the Prime Tower is located, a skyscraper in Zurich that was opened in 2011 and is known far beyond the borders of Switzerland. The complex houses many offices, restaurants and other institutions, but there is no trace of a company called TradeUP.

 

TradeUP: Oddities
In the small print of the TradeUP platform, more precisely under the menu item "Privacy Policy", the text suddenly mentions a platform called Exenmarket. Who or what is Exenmarket, we thought until just now that we were on a platform called TradeUP? Just a meaningless carelessness on the part of the scammers, or is there more to it? Our research on this is not yet complete.

 


TradeUP: International searches
The worldwide search for a possible TradeUP in the relevant registers leads to no result. The TradeUP is - just like its predecessor Coinswap - a fantasy product. But with our research tools, our investigation team has succeeded in tracking down the investment fraudsters. It is only a matter of time before the regulatory institutions take notice of TradeUP and warn of their criminal activities. The predecessor platform Coinswap has already come under the scrutiny of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) with its business conduct and questionable appearance. It issued a public warning against Coinswap as early as 30.11.2022.

 

TradeUP: Scheme of the investment fraud
Investment fraud usually plays out according to the same pattern: investors initially put in a small sum - usually 250 euros - and quickly experience how this amount multiplies, so that they are prepared to "invest" ever higher sums. The conflicts arise when an investor wants to have his money paid out, because now taxes, commissions, fees or anything else have to be paid first. Many investors only find out belatedly that they have fallen for an investment fraud and that there was never any intention to pay out the money again.
 


TradeUP: What help is there for investment fraud?
Many defrauded investors ask themselves how to act in the case of investment fraud, since a criminal complaint hardly makes sense because it primarily serves the purpose of criminal prosecution, but not the recovery of the money. What kind of help is available in the case of investment fraud and how do the aggrieved investors get their money back? The lawyer specialising in investment fraud must know how to follow the money trail, because as they used to say, money is not gone, it's just somewhere else. Now it can be added: It is complicated, but with the right tools it is possible to trace money digitally on a regular basis - even if it was transferred with Bitcoin via a Crypto Exchanger.

 

RESCH Rechtsanwälte GmbH - Experience in investor protection since 1986
If you have been a victim of TradeUP and want to know if and how you can get your money back, call +49 30 885 9770 or fill out the questionnaire. You will receive a free assessment of your case.