Thomas Daniels
Swissquote—alongside its mixed-asset sibling Yuh—has been officially instructed by Swiss regulators to intensify efforts against the surge in phishing and impersonation schemes targeting its platforms. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) emphasized the vulnerability of Yuh, particularly its crypto-investment feature, which has become a prominent target of scam operations.
According to Bloomberg, more than 600 fraudulent websites mimicking Swissquote’s login portals were discovered between January and June 2025, raising alarm across the digital-asset sector. Swissquote’s CEO, Marc Buerki, attributes this uptick in malicious activity to the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence, which has significantly lowered the threshold for executing mass social-engineering campaigns. He clarified that no internal systems or databases at Swissquote were breached—the risk remains external, focused on user deception rather than code manipulation.
The incident underscores a broader trend: crypto-related cybercrime losses have already reached approximately $2.1 billion year-to-date, with phishing and wallet exploits accounting for the majority of damage . CertiK, a cybersecurity auditor, noted that “the majority of losses have come from wallet compromises and phishing, with an increase in data leaks” .
Notably, high-value social-engineering attacks continue to make headlines. In April, an elderly victim was swindled out of $330 million—ranking among the largest crypto heists ever—via an elaborate impersonation scheme uncovered by on-chain investigator ZachXBT . More recently, in June, crypto‑venture capitalist Mehdi Farooq of Hypersphere revealed that sophisticated phishing tactics drained nearly all of his life savings .
This wave of fraud highlights an evolving threat landscape: scammers are increasingly favoring human deception over direct code exploits. With impersonation sites proliferating and fraud losses climbing into the billions, Swissquote’s mandate is a critical—and timely—step in reinforcing defenses. However, as cybercriminals refine their psychological tactics, both institutions and individual investors must double down on vigilance, adopting enhanced security protocols and education to safeguard digital-asset holdings.
