Erscheinung:14.08.2025 | Topic Unauthorised business, Consumer protection Fake banks: BaFin warns consumers about websites ma-banco(.)com and hauptstadtbank(.)com
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin warns against offers on the websites ma-banco(.)com and hauptstadtbank(.)com. Contrary to the presentation on the websites, there is no financial institution in Germany under the name of MA BANCO or Hauptstadt Bank. MA BANCO, which is allegedly based in Helsinki, is also not authorised to operate on the German market under the European passport.
The websites are almost identical to the websites mabanco(.)com, fe-bank(.)com und bancottimo(.)com, which BaFin already warned about on 2 September 2024 and 14 March 2025.
Anyone conducting banking business or providing financial or investment services in Germany may do so only with authorisation from BaFin. However, some companies offer these services without the required authorisation. Information on whether companies have been authorised by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.
The information provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).
Please be aware:
BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.
