AMMAN — Days
after a fraudulent operation estimated at tens of millions of Dinars through an
electronic trading application was revealed, some who fell prey for the e-hoax
said they sued the non-Jordanian company, which promised them high profits.
اضافة اعلان
It all began when
a link spread like wildfire across the Internet. It was for a foreign firm,
which invited Jordanians to invest with it, promising sizeable returns.
On the website,
instructions to investors included a link to an application to be downloaded on
smart phones. The application, however, was not listed on online
Apple or
Android stores.
Walaa Sawalha,
one of the Jordanians who downloaded the app and traded with the company, said
her brother began first, “putting in hundreds of Jordanian Dinars”.
“He received
JD200, so I was encouraged, and paid JD300,” she told
Jordan News.
She said that the
site offered a specific amount of money as a profit to those who invest with
it. “It was a trap to convince others of the credibility of the application,
and build confidence among people, especially since the site is not in Jordan.”
Sawalha said that
in the middle of October, payments were deferred following an alleged glitch on
the company’s site, which claimed at the time that there was an attempt to hack
it. Meanwhile, it posted enticing offers to persuade its subscribers to invest
larger amounts.
Rula, another
subscriber who invested JD500, said what she went through was “fraud”. She said
that one of her friends sold her jewelry to invest, hoping to achieve large
financial gains.
She noted that
the site is still operating, but that all the “money we put in was withdrawn”.
Khaled, who said
he invested JD7000, told
Jordan News that “the situation was reminiscent
of the 2008 fraud, when citizens fell victim to a stock company”.
He said that he
regretted signing up and paying a large sum of money, adding that at the
beginning of November he had filed a case against all the people he
communicated with when he first registered.
Attorney Rami
Ababneh urged Jordanians who underwent a similar experience to lodge complaints
with local authorities. He explained that the complaints may be “useless”
because the company is not registered in Jordan, has no offices in the Kingdom,
or a clear name.
But he pointed
out that the complaints will have authorities investigate the fraud, and to
possibly get leads about the firm itself from the people who encouraged
Jordanians to invest with it.
Ababneh cautioned
Jordanians to “beware of electronic transactions”. He stressed the need for
raising citizens’ awareness about electronic trading, and warn them not to work
with entities that are unknown, or unregistered.
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