Forex Fraudsters Target Victims Across Europe – PayPal Turns a Blind Eye
- WireNews
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
A shadowy operation posing as a legitimate financial services company has been exposed for selling unlicensed Forex and other financial products across the EU, including in Greece and the UK. Victims have been directed to pay through PayPal under the guise of purchasing web hosting packages or other irrelevant services, a tactic designed to circumvent regulations that prohibit such unlicensed activity.
WireNews has spoken to several victims who handed over money believing they were investing in Forex trading, only to later discover that the transactions were deliberately disguised and entirely unlawful. One of the most glaring red flags comes from the company’s own website, which falsely claims: “Proftios is registered and licensed by ETE with CN3766109.” No such regulatory body exists, and the so-called licence number is fabricated.
The transaction was processed via PayPal through an account held by Cope Americas LLC, operating under the brand CopeCart (https://copecart.com). This company has been informed that it is not facilitating the sale of web hosting services, as claimed, but rather financing unlawful Forex trading activities.
The primary contact for the operation has been identified as Nikolaos Stergiou, who has been named by multiple sources and whose details have been passed on to the authorities.
Even more troubling is PayPal’s response to the fraud. WireNews contacted PayPal directly after victims reported the issue through the platform. Despite a formal complaint having been filed, a UK representative for PayPal identifying herself as “Trish” declined to take down details of the fraud or investigate further. Instead, PayPal’s system requires the victim—the so-called “buyer”—to lodge a claim. The details of that claim are then passed straight to the fraudster—the so-called “seller”—who is given weeks to respond. This process effectively grants criminals time to disappear with stolen funds.
When confronted with the specifics of the case, PayPal’s attitude could only be described as disinterested, raising serious questions about the company’s willingness to protect its users from fraud.
WireNews will continue to follow this story as complaints are investigated by PayPal and referred to financial regulators across Europe.
