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05 June 2025

Finiwise.com – Advance fee scam, withholding funds

The FMA has received several reports from individuals who have invested with FiniWise and are unable to withdraw their funds. We believe FiniWise is operating a scam and recommend extreme caution when engaging with this entity and its website. 

FiniWise claims to be a global broker offering trading in CFDs (Contracts for Difference), foreign exchange, stocks and crypto. It claims it is owned by a licensed and regulated entity in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and acts as an authorised financial services provider, licensed and regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission as Approved Managers. 

How the scam works:

  1. Some victims learned about FiniWise from a Facebook advertisement showing New Zealanders being able to retire early or featuring interviews with prominent public figures talking about earning a second income. Others came across FiniWise while using search engines to research investment opportunities.

  2. After registering their interest with FiniWise, the victims were contacted and instructed to transfer approximately US$250 to start investing. Some were instructed to transfer this money to a website offering financial education, named Coursados Education. The victims were later asked to make larger investments. 

  3. When the victims tried to withdraw their funds, they were told they had to first pay a commission or insurance fee to release the money. Even when these fees were paid, the money was still not returned.

We are aware that some of the victims have been coached and supplied with answers to give their bank or payment provider when asked about their transactions. 

Scam victims are also being contacted by agencies claiming to help recover their lost funds, if they pay upfront fees. They often impersonate government agencies or international organisations. This is likely a recovery scam, where scammers try to get more money or information from their victims.

We are also concerned that FiniWise may be using victims as “money mules”. If a person or entity asks you to receive funds and instructs you to pay them on to a third party, exercise extreme caution. They may be targeting you to act as a money mule. If you have been asked to do this, please contact your bank

ASSOCIATED CONTACTS

Financial education website used to receive funds

Name: Coursados Education
Website: coursados.com 
Email: [email protected]

Suspected to be operating a recovery scam

Name: Imposter of World Blockchain Organization (WBO)
Email address: [email protected]

Name: Imposter of Federal Trade Commission 
Email: [email protected]

Name: Instant Recovery Funds 

Name: Imposter of National Security Agency