The list of scams that our financial regulators don’t stop seem to be endless.
This scam has appeared recently – From The Daily Mirror
Scamming Bastards – Image From The Mirror
Many of the scammers focus on the things that most consumers are looking for.
High income
No to low risk
Protected investments
For all of those things there are few that truthfully do one or more but all three, forget it.
All three is the impossible investment. It does not exist, it never has done, never will.
If anyone tells you they have one for sale – you know that it is an immediate scam.
End.
That is why they are so rare – because they are impossible.
This is the point where the scammers arrive.
They pretend to offer a unique, one off, buy now while stocks last, final opportunity, yours if you move quick, get in today before it goes, before your neighbour. It won’t last long – it’s fully guaranteed, FSCS protected.
They offer a solution that does not exist in the investment market place, because it is impossible and then take that out directly to consumers using Google Adwords or another online platform, all supported by fake company accounts and dodgy directors. They have professional websites and very professional sales staff – of course they would, you can’ sell dodgy investments without being very plausible.
So get over that, the person that can talk in to your bank account, the person that can build enough trust to get you to transfer your life savings has to be plausible, has to come across as being credible – but credible as in their approach, not in their investment advice or the quality of their offer. Sadly, just because they ‘appear’ on the Financial Services Authority register, stands for very little. Because, the firm you are speaking to could be a clone of an authorised firm, copied in every way.
This is something the fraud office and the regulator should have stopped many years but has not.
This makes personal recommendations even more solid than before – but beware even there. Just because your friend is happy does not mean that the advice or product you’ll be offered will be legit.
These financial scams have been around for years, made worse by the pandemic and with a lack of few criminal prosecutions or effective action from the civil or criminal authorities. Fact is the scammers have realised there is an easy market to target.
Those looking for out of the ordinary returns and who clearly lack the knowledge and information about investment planning. They also take advantage of those that understand a little about these matters – Financial Services Protection – often called FSCS Protection or similar. That is normally the bait, that calms the nerves of the investor.
So what can you do to protect yourself.
- Assume any investment you are thinking about making is a scam.
- Assume any protection offered is not valid or a lie.
- Never ever accept any information at face value. Not a product, not a business.
- Check the authorisations of every person/business or adviser involved.
- Search engines are your friend. Normally a quick search on the company name, the directors names will reveal something.
- As a final note remember that many pension scams and mis-selling of defined benefit transfers have been made by authorised
independent financial advisers – legitimate firms, legitimate organisations, duly authorised fraudsters.
Just these basic steps will reveal something.
If they reveal nothing then that could be just as bad.
After reading this I am sure you feeling stuck and dejected and not know what do in order to move yourself and your finances forward but don’t despair, like learning to drive a car you can learn this money stuff, sure it’s a bit alien at first, some of the terminology is a bit strange but once you get in to a groove with, once you understand a few money fundamentals everything will start to change. And this is what we do over here. we give you the tools you need to understand, to work out how to make your money really work for you, to avoid the bad guys.
If you are still not sure, get in touch with us. And we’ll do our best to do some digging for you.
Remember if you’ve not had the chance to attend a MoneyTrainers – MoneyWorkshop yet, get in touch with your line manager or HR Department – tell them we can help educate and your colleagues in the whole area of money and personal finances.
Richard
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