Lisbon, Oct. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) on Thursday warned of the fraudulent use of the names and images of public figures and authorised financial institutions to offer financial intermediation services or investment opportunities.
"The fraudulent contacts reported are generally made via social networks, telephone contacts, WhatsApp messages or email and are established under the pretext of offering financial intermediation services or proposing investment opportunities," reads a statement published on the regulator's website.
If you receive a contact of this type, the CMVM warns that you "should not automatically trust its veracity".
According to the statement, any action requested in the contact should not be carried out, such as downloading attachments, accessing links, allowing remote access to the phone and/or computer via data-sharing applications (screen), providing credentials to access accounts at financial institutions, transferring money to make supposed investments, paying supposed commissions, insurance or taxes or transferring/reinforcing the sending of money to recover a previously made investment allegedly.
"Be particularly wary of email domains and telephone numbers that may look very similar to legitimate/official ones, but have slight alterations. Always confirm these domains through the official contacts published on the financial institutions' institutional websites," emphasises the regulator.
In the event of receiving such fraudulent requests, the CMVM advises contacting them immediately via the Investor Helpline 800 205 339 or by sending an e-mail to investidor@cmvm.pt.
However, it warns that this contact "does not replace the need to file a complaint with the competent authorities for the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences".
The CMVM recalls that the improper and abusive use of the name and image of authorised persons and financial institutions "constitutes a criminal offence, so all situations identified should be reported to the competent judicial authorities".
For more information, interested parties can consult the new area of the Investor Portal dedicated to fraud, where they can learn how to identify a fraudulent scheme and what to do in the event of a suspicious contact or if they are victims of fraud.
The CMVM also warns potential investors that, before contracting any investment product, they should check that the entity offering it is authorised to operate in Portugal, by consulting the list of financial intermediaries authorised to provide investment services in Portugal.
PD/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
