247SmartFx’s Corrupt War on the Internet: Using Fraud to Shut Down Free Speech – Part 1

What Happened?

247SmartFx, a relatively obscure forex trading platform, has recently been under fire for allegedly attempting to conceal a questionable past and censor damaging news about its operations. Although the platform presents itself as a legitimate broker offering competitive spreads and various trading tools, numerous complaints and negative feedback from traders paint a different picture.

Traders have reported issues such as difficulty withdrawing funds, unexpected account closures, and poor customer service. Additionally, 247SmartFx’s regulatory standing is unclear, with many suspecting that the platform operates without proper oversight, putting clients’ funds at risk. These issues have led to numerous bad reviews and accusations of fraud across forums and review platforms.

What further raises concern is 247SmartFx’s alleged efforts to suppress negative reviews and online complaints. Several traders claim that their feedback was removed or that they were pressured into staying silent about their negative experiences. This attempt to control the narrative and hide its shady past raises red flags about the company’s transparency and credibility, urging potential traders to proceed with caution before engaging with the platform.

Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)

Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.

List of Fake Copyright Notices for 247SmartFx

Number of Fake DMCA Notice(s)	1
Lumen Database Notice(s)	https://lumendatabase.org/notices/44342506
Sender(s)	OptiPulse Technologies ltd.
Date(s)	Sep 5, 2024
Fake Link(s) Used by Scammers	https://www.worldforexaward.com/ms/directory-of-forex-brokers/report/247smartfx
Original Link(s) Targeted	https://www.wikifx.com/zh/word/2281496635.html

Evidence and Screenshots

How do we investigate fake DMCA notices?

To accomplish this, we utilize the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen API for Researchers, courtesy of the Lumen Database.

FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, plays a crucial role in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.

What was 247SmartFx trying to hide?

247SmartFx is a relatively obscure forex broker that offers trading services for various financial instruments, including currencies, commodities, and indices. The platform claims to provide competitive spreads, leverage, and user-friendly tools to attract traders, especially beginners in the forex market. However, unlike more established brokers, 247SmartFx operates with limited transparency regarding its regulatory status. It is suspected that the platform may be functioning without proper oversight from any recognized financial authorities, raising concerns about the security of funds and the legitimacy of its services.

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While 247SmartFx presents itself as a legitimate trading platform, numerous complaints and allegations from users suggest otherwise. Here is a breakdown of the adverse news, bad reviews, complaints, and allegations that the company is reportedly trying to hide:

1. Withdrawal Issues and Fund Accessibility

One of the most frequent complaints from users is related to the difficulty in withdrawing funds from the platform. Traders have reported long delays, unexplained rejections of withdrawal requests, or even total denial of access to their funds after making significant profits. Some users claim that after requesting withdrawals, their accounts were either suspended or closed without any clear explanation. This has led to growing suspicions that 247SmartFx may be facing liquidity issues or intentionally preventing withdrawals to avoid payouts.

Withdrawal delays and difficulties are red flags in any trading platform, and 247SmartFx’s repeated issues in this area have drawn heavy criticism from affected traders, with some accusing the platform of operating a scam.

2. Unclear Regulatory Standing

247SmartFx’s lack of transparency regarding its regulatory standing is another major concern. Unlike reputable brokers that are regulated by well-known financial authorities such as the FCA, CySEC, or ASIC, 247SmartFx operates in a regulatory gray area. The broker’s licensing and regulatory details are either missing or unclear, which raises suspicions that the platform may be unregulated or registered in a jurisdiction with little to no oversight.

For traders, dealing with an unregulated broker can be highly risky. In the event of disputes or fraud, there is often little legal recourse available, leaving clients vulnerable. The ambiguity surrounding 247SmartFx’s regulatory compliance has fueled speculation that the company may be deliberately avoiding accountability.

3. Complaints of Poor Customer Service and Support

Another common complaint from traders on 247SmartFx is the platform’s poor customer service. Many users have reported that when they encountered issues—such as problems with withdrawals or trading errors—the customer support team was unresponsive or provided insufficient assistance. Long wait times, generic responses, and a lack of solutions to critical issues have frustrated clients, leaving many feeling abandoned after experiencing significant financial losses.

This lack of effective customer support has added to the overall negative sentiment toward the platform, with traders feeling they have no way to resolve their issues or get answers to their questions.

4. Suspicion of Manipulative Trading Practices

Several traders have alleged that 247SmartFx may be engaging in manipulative trading practices. Some users have reported irregularities in trade execution, with claims that their orders were filled at unexpected prices, resulting in significant losses. Others have pointed to slippage and sudden, unexplained price changes that seemed designed to trigger stop-losses or margin calls. While slippage and price fluctuations can occur naturally in the forex market, the consistency of such reports has led to concerns that 247SmartFx might be deliberately manipulating trades to the detriment of its clients.

Market manipulation is a serious issue in the trading world, and platforms that engage in such practices are often flagged by regulatory bodies. However, due to the lack of oversight, it is difficult for affected traders to take action against the broker.

5. Efforts to Censor Negative Reviews and Feedback

In addition to the operational complaints, 247SmartFx has reportedly engaged in efforts to suppress negative reviews and feedback from users. Some traders claim that their negative reviews, detailing their bad experiences with the platform, have been removed or buried on certain review sites and forums. There are also reports of pressure being applied to individuals who attempt to speak out, with users alleging that they were threatened with account suspension or other penalties for sharing their complaints publicly.

This apparent attempt to control the narrative and hide damaging information suggests that 247SmartFx is actively working to maintain a positive public image while ignoring or covering up the real issues faced by its clients. The efforts to censor negative reviews have only heightened suspicions about the platform’s integrity.

6. Allegations of Operating a Scam

Given the growing number of complaints and the platform’s lack of transparency, some traders have gone as far as to label 247SmartFx as a scam. The combination of withdrawal issues, unclear regulatory standing, manipulative trading practices, and efforts to suppress negative feedback has led to significant skepticism about the broker’s legitimacy. While it’s difficult to definitively prove that the platform is operating a scam, the volume and consistency of these complaints strongly suggest that there are major issues at play.

For traders, the risk of losing money to a platform that may be operating fraudulently is a serious concern. This has led to widespread warnings within the trading community, urging caution for anyone considering opening an account with 247SmartFx.

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247SmartFx’s attempts to hide bad reviews, complaints, and damaging news suggest that the platform may not be as legitimate or trustworthy as it claims. The serious issues surrounding withdrawal delays, a lack of regulatory oversight, poor customer service, and allegations of manipulative trading practices have all contributed to growing doubts about the broker’s operations.

For potential clients, these red flags raise important questions about the safety of trading with 247SmartFx. The platform’s efforts to censor negative feedback and control the narrative only add to suspicions that it is trying to cover up deeper, systemic problems. Before engaging with 247SmartFx, traders are strongly advised to conduct thorough research and consider the numerous warnings and complaints from other users.

Only 247SmartFx benefits from this crime.

Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for 247SmartFx from Google, we assume 247SmartFx or someone associated with 247SmartFx is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of 247SmartFx. In this case, 247SmartFx, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.

How do we counteract this malpractice?

Once we ascertain the involvement of 247SmartFx (or actors working on behalf of 247SmartFx), we will inform 247SmartFx of our findings via Electronic Mail.

Our preliminary assessment suggests that 247SmartFx may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from 247SmartFx, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to 247SmartFx to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.

Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –

1. Inform Google about the fraud committed against them.
2. Inform the victims of the fake DMCA about their websites.
3. Inform relevant law enforcement agencies
4. File counter-notices on Google to reinstate the ‘removed’ content
5. Publish copies of the ‘removed’ content on our network of 50+ websites

By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how 247SmartFx and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…

Since 247SmartFx made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and our original review of 247SmartFx, including but not limited to user contributions, remain a permanent record for anyone interested in 247SmartFx.

A case perfect for the Streisand effect…

Potential Consequences for 247SmartFx

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)). 

Is 247SmartFx Committing a Cyber Crime?

Yes, it seems so. 247SmartFx used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. 247SmartFx could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like 247SmartFx have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. 247SmartFx is certainly keeping interesting company here….

The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.

Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.

Reputation Agency’s Modus Operandi

The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.

How did 247SmartFx purport this DMCA Fraud?

As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by 247SmartFx creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.

The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.

The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.

In committing numerous offences, 247SmartFx either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about 247SmartFx, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.

The Reputation Laundering

Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.

The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.

In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.

This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.

Not In Good Company

Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. 247SmartFx is in great company ….

Ironically, the manipulation tactics used to remove public-interest information from the Internet are backfiring on 247SmartFx, which is now associated with the worst of this world.

Here are some of the specimens that share the internet space with 247SmartFx –

Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado

Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado appears to be the former foreign affairs minister of the Dominican Republic. His name is listed next to more than 500 links to news articles, blogs, social media posts, and YouTube videos targeted for removal or de-indexing. Many of the articles refer to questions over his political fundraising practices. They include accusations that Vargas had received donations from an individual who would later be convicted of drug trafficking. Some targeted links remain active, while others return 404 errors or “file not found.”

José Antonio Gordo Valero

José Gordo joined OneCoin in 2015 and has been named in an indictment for the OneCoin scam in Argentina. The articles listed next to Gordo’s name in the documents reviewed by Rest of World include references to his role at the company. 

Diego Adolfo Marynberg

He appears to be the same Marynberg connected to funding right-wing causes, including settlement efforts in Israel. Reports also alleged that his company received preferential treatment in acquiring Argentinian bonds worth millions of dollars. More than 70 URLs appear next to Marynberg’s name in the documents, including pages from the Israeli newspapers The Times of Israel, Haaretz, and Clarin, one of Argentina’s most prominent news sites.

Majed Khalil Majzoub

Majed is an influential businessman with close ties to several governments, including the administration of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Majzoub’s name appears next to more than 180 URLs, mostly from independent outlets. Of the two URLs that pointed to articles from Germany’s Der Spiegel, one now returns an error message; the other, which appears to refer to relations between Venezuela and Colombia, directs to an unrelated story about Brexit. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What else is 247SmartFx hiding?

Click here to visit the Google Search page for ‘247SmartFx’. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)

To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with us. If you have any information on 247SmartFx that you want to share with us, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].

All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.

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References and Citations Used

Over thirty thousand DMCA notices reveal an organized attempt to abuse copyright law.

Reputation Management, or Internet Conspiracy

Exposed documents reveal how the powerful cleaned up their digital past using a reputation laundering firm.

Companies Use Fake Websites and Backdated Articles to Censor Google’s Search Results.

Bad Reviews: How Companies Are Using Fake Websites to Censor Content

How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists

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Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.

Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of 247SmartFx censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”

• Our investigative report on 247SmartFx’s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that 247SmartFx has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.
• We intend to file a counternotice to reinstate the removed article(s). While this particular instance is relatively straightforward, it is important to note that, in other cases, the overwhelming volume of automated DMCA takedown notices can significantly hinder the ability of affected parties to respond—especially for those not large media organizations.
• You need an account with fakeDMCA.com and Lumen to access the research data. However, accounts are not widely available since these non-profit organisations manage large databases that could be susceptible to misuse. Nevertheless, they do offer access to non-profits and researchers.
• It’s unclear why U.S. authorities have yet to act against these rogue reputation agencies, whose business model seems rooted in fraudulent practices.
• We’ve reached out to 247SmartFx for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. It will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt if they remain silent.

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About the Author

The author is affiliated with Harvard University and serves as a researcher at both Lumen and FakeDMCA.com. In his personal capacity, he and his team have been actively investigating and reporting on organized crime related to fraudulent copyright takedown schemes. Additionally, his team provides advisory services to major law firms and is frequently consulted on matters pertaining to intellectual property law. He can be reached at [email protected] directly.