National Australia Bank might have to review the transaction records of some account holders to establish whether any Australian and New Zealand customers have been fleeced by a fraudulent Irish crypto exchange.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority on Friday issued a warning to British consumers to avoid using an unauthorised crypto exchange trading as “NAB Crypto” amid concerns that it has repeatedly prevented customers from making drawdowns on their trading accounts.
NAB Crypto, which has no relationship with the National Australia Bank, is continuing to provide a cross-border online trading service through the internet site www.nabcrypto.io.
National Australia Bank, which has vigorously aired its concerns about the risks of trading in alternative currencies, does not offer any crypto trading services.
According to its website, NAB Crypto offers access to trading in stocks, cryptocurrencies and foreign exchange, but many European users have complained on internet chat rooms that the services were never provided after they lodged money in accounts.
Others who transacted on the site said their trading was executed by a staff trader who did not return their calls after they made requests to withdraw cash.
“Avoid like the plague,” one British poster told the international consumer review site, Trust Pilot.
“It's a total con. If you invest, they will double your investment and then bombard you with requests to invest more.
“The real problems start when you try and make a withdrawal. I didn't get a cent back and cannot contact anyone at Nab.”
A German user told Trust Pilot that NAB Crypto stopped returning his phone calls when he tried to withdraw money.
“Once you ask for withdrawal they stop replying you,” the user wrote.
The FCA warned British consumers they were likely to lose their money because NAB Crypto was unauthorised and was not subscribed to a compensation scheme.
“Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorised or registered by us,” the FCA said.
“This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK.
“You will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so you are unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong.”
While the Dublin-based NAB Crypto service has been actively marketed to British and European crypto traders since February, it is not clear whether Australian residents have been transacting on the site.
A spokesperson for the Melbourne-based National Australia Bank, indicated that the bank was assessing whether any of its customers were affected by the like-named company’s activities.
“NAB is looking into the matter,” the spokesperson said.
As Banking Day entered production on Tuesday evening, the National Australia Bank’s security hub portal had not listed the Irish trading site as a fraud threat.
The FCA warning on Friday came a few days after Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority included NAB Crypto on a list of trading platforms that were likely to expose consumers to risk of fraud.