Under EU law, as a “trusted flagger”, the Financial Market Authority may report unauthorised financial services such as those preferred by online platforms – Administrative Decision issued by KommAustria
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has been certified as a trusted flagger under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) by the Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria; Kommunikationsbehörde Austria). The administrative decision granting this status has now been legally delivered to the FMA. The certification applies for illegal financial services.
This new status permits the FMA to make online platforms aware in a targeted and prioritised manner about content that indicates the provision of unauthorised financial services – such as fake brokers, fraudulent investment offerings, unauthorised crypto-trading platforms or investment fraud in closed messaging service groups. Under the DSA, providers of online platforms are obliged to handle reports as a priority and to reach a decision promptly received from trusted flaggers – in a differentiated manner to reports made by individual users, which are frequently lost in the crowd.
In 2025 alone, the FMA received 842 reports about investment fraud, with the total losses from the reported cases standing at approx. €20 million – itself only a fraction of the actual loses incurred. The use of social media and messaging services to set up investment scams has been the fastest-growing trend in recent years. The FMA’s investigators experiences show that online platforms regularly play a key role for the dissemination of fraudulent offerings. They act as a gateway to fraud, using deepfake videos, AI-powered chatbots in investment groups and cloned identities, which fraudsters use to deceive their victims on a grand scale.
“Fraudsters are often early adopters of new technology – and dent public confidence in the financial market”, commented FMA Executive Director Mariana Kühnel. “Confidence is important: people who are certain that investment offerings are legitimate are more willing to invest in the capital market. Our new trusted flagger status increases our options for taking targeted action against fraudulent online content.”
“Digital platforms play a key role in spreading unauthorised financial offerings”, added FMA Executive Director Helmut Ettl. “Anyone generating revenue from advertising must also invest effectively in prevention. Trusted flagger status allows us to hold platforms more accountable – an important step towards ensuring that investors are also able to rely on a clean and trustworthy financial centre online.”
The FMA will not be able to block or delete offerings itself in the future – that remains the platform’s job. However, this new status increases the priority and accountability of reports, and should permit quicker decisions by platforms. Trusted flagger status is an additional lever complementing the existing tools at the FMA’s disposal, such as investor warnings, prohibition of business, submitting criminal complaints, and reporting sites to hosting providers.
Other supervisory authorities’ initial experiences give some cause for optimism: The Central Bank of Ireland has held trusted flagger status since early 2025. They now receive responses from major platforms very promptly – with removal rates standing at around 99 per cent.
The fight against unauthorised online financial offers is not a side issue for the FMA, but is closely linked to its core remit: a clean, stable financial centre that investors are able to trust. A supervisory authority that keeps up with technological advances is just as essential as robust measures against fraud that are constantly adapted to the latest scams – and complemented by awareness-raising and financal literacy as a preventive measure, for example through the FMA’s “Let’s talk about money” (Reden wir über Geld) series, on the Internet (in German and English), on Instagram and Youtube (in German only).
Background information: What is a Trusted Flagger?
The European Union’s Digital Services Act obliges large online platforms to prioritise the handling of reports made by certified trusted flaggers. The Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria) is the competent body for awarding such a status in Austria in its capacity as Digital Services Coordinator. A coordination for such status being conferred is proof of particular expert knowledge in the respective field, organisational and financial independence from online platforms as well as a diligent, precise and objective manner in handling reports. The certification is not time-limited, but may be revoked in the event that the quality of reports is inadequate. The European Commission publishes a list of trusted flaggers throughout the EU, thereby ensuring that all online platform providers are able to recognise them as such.
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Boris Gröndahl (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43 1 24959-6010
+43 676 8824 9995