Safellos customer support will be in training from 12 PM today. Any transaction needing manual handling will be reviewed when customer support opens.
Online fraud is globally on the rise and some criminals use cryptocurrency platforms like Safello to move their funds to pseudonymity. Safello works tirelessly to prevent fraudsters from succeeding and is assisting authorities to catch these criminals. Once completed, orders are non-refundable as per the nature of cryptocurrency transactions. As such, we believe that every fraud that succeeds is one too many.
Yes. Safello is a Financial Institution registered with the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. We closely collaborate with local and international law enforcement authorities to prevent crimes from taking place and assist in their investigations. In no way Safello has any affiliation with the perpetrators of fraud and we strongly condemn their actions. To learn more about Safello and our history visit our about page.
Most of our preventive measures happen behind the scenes. We do not disclose these measures as that would help fraudsters bypass our systems and we are also bound by regulations that prohibit their disclosure. What we can disclose is that Safello, as a regulated Financial Institution, follows the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Directive and that we do identity checks before purchases can be completed. Additionally, we send SMS and in-app warnings to alert users ahead of finalising their transaction. When in doubt, do not proceed with your transaction and send us email .
There are companies that claim to be collaborating with Safello or communicate that they are Safello’s business partners. In some cases, even private individuals claim to be Safello’s co-workers acting in this capacity. Always contact us here to verify personal data of an individual who claims any of the above mentioned before approving any transaction.
Yes. Safello is a regulated Financial Institution. As such we both file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the police and we receive and respond to law enforcement requests (LERs). We are principally against fraudulent behavior and tend to go above and beyond to stop criminals from succeeding.
Unfortunately, this is not true. Fraudsters have many venues to execute their cryptocurrency trades. In fact, if fraudsters use Safello, there is a much higher chance that we notice and may be able to prevent the attempted fraud from happening in the first place. Safello has sophisticated analytics tools to track funds. In some cases Safello is able to tie these funds to the identity of the fraudsters and help law enforcement authorities in their investigations.
There are a couple of tips to keep in mind that may help you in the future:
To prevent known fraud methods from occurring again, we list them here. We aim to keep this list current. If you have been the victim of a fraud that is not listed here, please contact us by email so we can add it to the list.
First reported
2018-06-14
Fraud description
This fraud involves someone (an individual stating to be a representative of a company or an individual claiming to be an investment consultant or advisor) that is offering you support in trading and/or placing an order using Safello’s platform as a part of the investment opportunity. This person might offer you help to set up a wallet and might control your computer to show how a wallet is created and how a transaction at Safello will be processed. The person might offer you support in recovering money that you might have lost before (if you were scammed in the past). Then he/she might claim that in order to proceed you should pay the service fee in advance which might be paid in cryptocurrency as your first cryptocurrency purchase order.
The fraudster might ask you not to reveal this information to Safello as we do not allow any third-party support in trading. By approving our Terms of Service (point 2) you confirm that you as customer warrant that you are the beneficial owner of funds, customer account and cryptocurrency wallet address.This means that you can only sell and purchase cryptocurrency using your own personal funds, customer account/cryptocurrency wallet address and you warrant to not conduct any transactions on behalf of someone else.
In the next steps of this fraud, after placing buy orders at Safello, the fraudster is controlling your funds and usually stops responding to you. That happens if the Wallet address registered on your account is not controlled by you but by the third-party.
At Safello we do not allow any third-parties to support customers in placing/initiating orders and we do not allow any support with trading. However, in the case of social engineering, we notice cases of fraud attempts. Each case is reviewed and we follow internal compliance procedures and take appropriate security measures to educate the customer and to stop similar fraud attempts.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening
In order to place an order at Safello you do not need any third-party support. All the basic information about how to place a buy Bitcoin order is available on our site https://safello.com/bitcoin/buy/. If you have any additional questions you may always contact our Support.
Never allow any third-party companies (individuals) to take control of your computer or take control of your funds. Always report any suspicious activities to law enforcement authorities.
First reported
2018-12-18
Fraud description
This fraud involves an advertisement on Facebook offering you an apartment to rent. The fraudster will ask you questions to find out which bank you use and to approve a credit check with mobile bank ID. This approval provides access to your bank account as a fraudster probably has already prefilled your personal number in the online banking page.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening:
First reported
2019-01-14
Fraud description
This fraud involves someone offering a product on different Instagram pages. Typically, the products offered are too good to be true as far as the price is concerned. Sometimes you may hear them outright state that they are selling stolen products. Never buy those as even in these cases it is just a way for scammers to get your money and never deliver anything.
Safello always generates a warning text message to the phone number registered with Swish.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening: Never buy products in which the seller only receives cryptocurrency as a payment method and promises to deliver products after the payment process is completed.
First reported
2019-05-24
Fraud description
This fraud involves someone interested in purchasing your item on Facebook Marketplace. After deciding on a price, the fraudster claims that he/she is having problems with making a swish payment to you and asks you to increase your swish limit. The mobile bank ID request is sent by the fraudster as he/she has already assumed which bank you use and is trying to log in to your bank account.
In the next steps the fraudster might do some transactions using his/her access to your online banking or asks you for refunds to his/her company or a refund using Safello’s services as he/she might claim to work at the company.
Safello always generates a warning text message to the phone number registered with Swish.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening You do not need to increase your Swish limit in order to receive payments Always contact the company to verify personal data of an individual who claims to be the owner/employee of before approving any transaction
First reported
2019-06-09
Fraud description
This fraud involves someone interested in purchasing your item on Blocket. After deciding on a price, the fraudster claims that he is having problems with making a swish payment to you and asks you to increase your swish limit. The mobile bank ID request is sent by the fraudster as he already made an assumption which bank you use and is trying to log in to your bank account. In the next steps the fraudster might do some transactions using his/her access to your online banking or asks you for refunds to his/her company or a refund using Safello’s services as he/she might claim to work at the company.
Safello always generates a warning text message to the phone number registered with Swish.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening
You do not need to increase your Swish limit in order to receive payments Always contact the company to verify personal data of an individual who claims to be the owner/employee of before approving any transaction
First reported
2019-09-19
Fraud description
Ransomware is a form of malware that allows cybercriminals to hold your PC, or files on it, for ransom. This is typically much worse than your average spyware or spam as the fraudsters behind the ransomware request money to return access to your files. You can get this sort of malware via e-mail attachments or downloading untrusted files from the web.
Around 70 percent* of social media scams are shared manually by people amongst their friends and contacts. It’s easy to see why, as people are more likely to click on a link or download software if it’s recommended by someone they know.
Here’s how it often happens: You see a new post from a friend or from a trusted family member and you click on it. Maybe it opens an email attachment or takes you to a site. Once you take action, malware secretly downloads onto your device. Later, you may turn on your PC or mobile device to see a screen demanding payment to have your files unlocked or to not spread them publicly. This could take the form of a fake law enforcement notice or be a direct message from the fraudsters, which is meant to scare you.
You aren’t breaking any laws but the fraudsters behind this scam are.
That message from your social media friend likely didn’t originate from him/her. Keep in mind that your friend may have sent the message but cybercriminals may be using social engineering to get people to do the scam work for them.
Law enforcement would never send a notice like in the scenario mentioned above. Even if you would send the funds, there’s no guarantee that the scammers will unlock your files or device as you have already paid them. They might, however, ask for more money.
How to prevent this kind of fraud from happening
Steps to take if you should fall victim to ransomware
And remember that paying the extortionists may expose you for even more scams in the future.
*) https://ie.norton.com/internetsecurity-online-scams-avoiding-ransomware-scams-on-social-media.html
Even if you have not been aware of the unlawful action, you risk of committing a crime by supporting and contributing to illegal activity. Below, we list the well-known cases.
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol TV and it’s a convenient way of delivering TV content compared to traditional cable services. Although many platforms are offering this type of streaming in a perfectly legal manner (like Netflix, SVT Play, C More etc.), there are vast amounts of services that offer movies, tv shows and programs without the license to distribute that content. Despite the wide availability of IPTV, both buying and providing from unlicensed providers breaches copyright law.
Following the recent court case* in Sweden, IPTV providers without a contract with the copyright holder are breaking the law. In order to get paid for their services, such providers are recommending users to exchange SEK, DKK or NOK into cryptocurrencies with exchanges like Safello. The IPTV providers usually provide users with a step-by-step process to visit a cryptocurrency exchange, choose an amount to pay to a particular cryptocurrency wallet. In case you have encountered such recommendation, keep in mind that your Bank-ID (or another verification method) and the cryptocurrency wallet to which you are sending the funding to, is often being flagged by blockchain analysis tools and may be reported to law enforcement agencies.
Moreover, by using IPTV services from providers without a licence to distribute that content, you effectively also don’t have the right to access the material. Therefore, without paying the license to the company that owns that legal right, you run into the risk of being reported to law enforcement authorities yourself.
According to the Copyright Act, anyone who unlawfully infringes on the work of others can be sentenced to fines or imprisonment, which can be combined with damages to the company for, among others, lost of profits. Moreover, illegal IPTV and TV streaming services are often a part of a bigger crime or terrorist organization and by using their services, you possibly support their activities. You also run into risks of losing money, identity fraud or data leaks.
Safello’s team is taking down any links to our platform from IPTV providers to keep you safe. In case you have discovered any information about Safello or its services on a website connected to IPTV please send our team the name of the domain anonymously using the chatbox below.
*) Reference: Swedish courts, Stockholm district court, patent and market court case number B 16838-17. You can request a copy of the public verdict from https://www.domstol.se/stockholms-tingsratt/om-tingsratten/bestalla-domar-och-beslut/.
According to our Terms & Conditions, you as customer warrant that you are the beneficial owner of funds, customer account and cryptocurrency wallet address. This means that you can only sell and purchase cryptocurrency using your own personal funds, customer account/cryptocurrency wallet address and you warrant to not conduct any transactions on behalf of someone else.
Safello AB is not a payment service provider and using our platform to pay for any services or products (legal or illegal) is a breach of our Terms & Conditions. Safello is allowing you to exchange fiat to cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency to fiat to your own account and wallet only.
Problems may occur whenever you buy a cryptocurrency and place those funds in the wallet that is owned by somebody else, in exchange for some product or service. That practice can result in freezing your account and excluding you from future usage of Safello’s services.
Additionally, as mentioned above, you need to be the beneficial owner of funds, customer account and cryptocurrency wallet address. It means that the name provided by the payment operator or bank needs to match your account name.
Example of wrong activity: You want to buy Bitcoin using our widget and you log in with your BankID but when paying, you use your friend’s Swish service and you indicate to place cryptocurrency on the wallet provided by another company (and you don’t control that wallet).
Example of proper activity: You want to buy Bitcoin using our widget and you log in with your BankID. You use your own Swish to pay to Safello and you place cryptocurrency funds in the wallet that you control and have access to.