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ISRAEL has banned binary options firms based in the country from offering their services to overseas investors.

The ban already applies to trading within Israel, but in a vote on Monday last week the country’s parliament, the Knesset, voted unanimously to make the ban worldwide.

Firms have been given three months to shut down.

Israel has become notorious as the global centre for scam binary options.

Firms pose as legitimate investment dealers – often with a fake London address – pushing customers into placing rigged bets on whether financial markets will rise or fall within a matter of seconds or minutes. Other countries including Belgium and Canada have also clamped down on binary options, but Britain has been slow to act.

The Mail on Sunday first sounded the alarm in 2013, but the Financial Conduct Authority watchdog said this was not its problem, as binary options were gambling, not investments.

Meanwhile, the Gambling Commission said its hands were tied as long as binary options firms kept their computer systems outside Britain. After a lengthy consultation by the Treasury, the City watchdog will take over regulating binary options next year.

Earlier this month, police revealed that more than 2,000 victims have reported binary options scams, with total losses put at £59 million.

In the first half of 2017 alone, some 700 victims lost more than £18 million.

Two weeks ago, in a ‘day of action’, police visited 20 addresses in the City. No arrests were made, but police said it was important victims report binary option frauds ‘to ensure the extent of the problem can be fully understood and action can be taken to tackle it’. Better late than never?