Warning Against Unauthorized Deposit Offers - Identity Theft

BaFin News

Published April 7th, 2026

Detected April 7th, 2026

Summary

BaFin has issued a consumer warning against fraudulent fixed-term deposit offers sent from the email address martin.segler@spar-direkt.com. The unknown operators are conducting unauthorized banking business and financial services, falsely claiming association with Xaver Asset Management GmbH in what BaFin has identified as an identity theft scheme. The warning was issued under Section 37(4) of the German Banking Act (KWG) and Section 10(7) of the German Cryptomarkets Supervision Act (KMAG).

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What changed

BaFin issued a consumer protection warning on April 7, 2026, alerting the public to unauthorized fixed-term deposit offers being circulated via the email address martin.segler@spar-direkt.com. The unknown fraudsters are conducting banking transactions and financial services without the required regulatory authorization, and are falsely using the identity of Xaver Asset Management GmbH to lend false credibility to their scheme. BaFin confirmed that Xaver Asset Management GmbH has no connection to these offers.

Consumers and financial professionals should exercise heightened vigilance when receiving unsolicited investment offers, particularly those claiming association with legitimate financial institutions. Before engaging with any financial services provider, parties should verify authorization status through BaFin's company database. The warning serves an informational purpose and contains no specific compliance deadlines or penalties; however, companies and individuals who may have engaged with the fraudulent actors should review their exposure and consider reporting to BaFin's whistleblower channel if violations are identified.

Source document (simplified)

Erscheinung: 07.04.2026 | Topic Unauthorised business, Consumer protection Identity theft: BaFin warns against offers from the email address martin.segler(at)spar-direkt(.)com

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warns against fixed-term deposit offers sent from the email address martin.segler(at)spar-direkt(.)com. According to information available to BaFin, the unknown providers are conducting banking transactions and financial services without the required authorisation. Contrary to the claims made by the unknown operators, Xaver Asset Management GmbH has no connection whatsoever with the offers. This is a case of identity theft.

BaFin warns against fraudulent term deposit offers.

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.

BaFin is issuing this information on the basis of section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG) and section 10 (7) of the German Cryptomarkets Supervision Act (Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz – KMAG).

Caution

BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) warn consumers to watch out for internet-based financial fraud. If you wish to invest money online, exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify attempted fraud at an early stage.

In the “ Recognising financial fraud ” section of our website, you can view BaFin ’s current warnings about companies operating without the required authorisation and find out how to protect yourself from fraud on the financial market

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