Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has issued a warning to consumers about a series of nearly identical online platforms that claim to offer automated trading of financial instruments using artificial intelligence (AI).

According to BaFin, these websites are operating without the necessary regulatory approval and may pose significant risks to investors.

German Regulator BaFin Warns Public About 20 Unlicensed AI Investment Platforms

The regulator reports that the flagged platforms advertise AI-driven trading services with a minimum investment requirement of 250 euros. None of the websites provide clear information about their operators or a legal notice, and none are supervised by BaFin. The authority has identified at least 20 such websites, including geldgrix.de, immedintax.xyz, beraventex.org, invexorix.de, and several others.

“We urge the public to exercise extreme caution with online investment offers, especially those that promise automated trading or unusually high returns. Always check the legitimacy of providers before investing,” BaFin commented in the warning.

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role in the world of retail trading. On one hand, it’s being used to enhance services offered to traders; on the other, it introduces new risks to the financial ecosystem.

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AI Risks in Retail Trading

At the beginning of last year, AI-generated explicit images of Taylor Swift spread rapidly across the internet. While initially seen as a privacy issue for celebrities, the incident highlighted broader concerns about deepfake technology, particularly its potential to undermine identity verification in sectors like banking and trading.

These hyper-realistic forgeries could convincingly impersonate real individuals, posing a serious threat to the integrity of financial institutions' onboarding and compliance procedures.

In a digital world where many retail investors trust online influencers more than their families or certified financial advisors, the possibility of deepfakes impersonating figures like Elon Musk or local “finfluencers” has become more alarming than ever.

Earlier last year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also flagged the growing use of AI in fraudulent investment schemes. Many of these scams involve self-learning trading bots that promise unrealistically high returns. More recently, the commission emphasized that AI applications in trading should be subject to regulation and fall under existing legal frameworks.

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BaFin Powers

Under German law, any entity offering financial or investment services must obtain a license from BaFin. The regulator emphasizes that operating without such authorization is illegal. Consumers can verify whether a company is licensed by consulting BaFin’s official company database.

BaFin’s warnings are based on Section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act, which empowers the authority to alert the public about unauthorized financial service providers. The regulator, along with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and state criminal police offices, strongly advises consumers to be vigilant when considering online investments. They recommend thorough research to identify potential fraud before making any financial commitments.