Fraudsters are impersonating financial regulators and crypto exchanges to target customers caught in the wind-down of unlicensed firms after MiCA’s transitional period closed July 1, 2026. France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) said it has seen cases of fraudsters posing as AMF representatives, directing victims to fake websites.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said its own identity and logo are being misused in falsified documents. The Dutch regulator, the AFM, warned fraudsters may target consumers mid-search for a licensed alternative, according to the Financial Times.
A MiCA-shaped opening for a familiar scam
MiCA’s transitional period, which allowed firms to keep operating under national law while seeking authorization, ended across the bloc on July 1, 2026. From that date, any crypto-asset service provider without a MiCA license is in breach of EU law and must stop onboarding clients, cease marketing, and wind down.
ESMA’s own CASP register showed 323 licensed firms as of the end of July. That migration is what’s moving. Large numbers of customers are being told, correctly, to withdraw or transfer assets. It’s precisely the condition impersonation scams are built to exploit.
AMF’s decade-old problem
AMF’s record on impersonation predates MiCA by nearly a decade. In 2015, the French regulator warned that fraudsters were using its name, logo, and the identity of its Ombudsman to run a fake investment-recovery scheme.
In 2024, it disclosed new campaigns in which attackers impersonated AMF staff through emails, phone calls, and malicious websites. Today’s warning extends that established pattern into the MiCA licensing transition rather than introducing a new type of fraud.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2015 | AMF warns of fraudsters using its name, logo, and Ombudsman’s identity in a fake investment-recovery scheme |
| 2024 | AMF discloses staff-impersonation campaigns run through email, phone, and malicious websites |
| 2026 | AMF, ESMA, and the AFM report renewed impersonation activity tied to the MiCA licensing wind-down |
Neither ESMA nor AMF has published a dedicated advisory on this yet
No enforcement action or named perpetrator has been disclosed alongside today’s reports. This is a consumer-facing advisory stage delivered through interviews rather than a published bulletin. That’s a difference from AMF’s 2015 and 2024 incidents, both of which the regulator documented in its own dated releases.
In the meantime, ESMA’s own CASP register remains the direct way to check whether a platform is actually licensed before moving funds.
FAQ
1. How can I check if a crypto platform is licensed under MiCA?
ESMA maintains a public register of authorized crypto-asset service providers. Checking that register directly, rather than a link sent by phone or email, is the specific step regulators are asking users to take before transferring funds.
2. What should I do if I think I’ve been contacted by someone falsely claiming to represent a regulator?
AMF has said it refers confirmed impersonation cases to law enforcement. Stop any transfer in progress, avoid clicking links or opening attachments in the message, and report it through the regulator’s own official contact channels rather than any number or link the message itself provides.
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