We will have all seen TV programs such as Panorama, Dispatches, Watchdog etc where consumers are being taken advantage of by phone call scams. Whilst every endeavour will be made to stop these kind of people by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and government bodies, unfortunately these people will always find new ways to scam the unsuspecting public out of their hard earned money by offering various âguaranteed returnsâ or âonce in a lifetimeâ opportunities.
Last week, one of our clients alerted us to one such scamâŚthese scammers were very aggressive and threatening and the client was/is very shaken by the whole thing. Fortunately, the client had the foresight to call their financial planner at Serenity who quickly realised that this was a scam and reassured them.
The client received an unsolicited call informing him of a Property Bond paying a guaranteed 6% return. They told him that he had been selected because of his former employer and because he still held shares with them. He paid lip service to the call and agreed that they could send him information. Then he phoned his financial planner and she alerted him to the fact that this was probably a scam and told him that if they phoned again to redirect them to her.
The client received a call a couple of days later which lasted for an hour – during which time the scammers (he spoke to at least two persons) used various tactics including persuasion, bullying and scaring him by saying that he had committed to a purchase during the last call. They threatened that if he didn’t proceed they would issue court proceedings. They said that the recorded telephone call would provide sufficient evidence of his agreement and he has to fax over the documentation the next day at the latest, together with his bank information, passport and driving licence. When he asked them to contact his financial planner they said that the rules wouldn’t allow them to speak to her.
The clientâs financial planner advised him to contact the FCA and Action Fraud (whom he contacted) and gave them full details including email addresses, phone numbers etc. The FCA confirmed that this sounded like a scam and that, not surprisingly, the company doesn’t exist. They also gave him the same advice – do not answer the phone if you know it is the scammers calling and if you do by mistake – inform them that the FCA are now dealing with it. So far they have called eight times during one day and do not leave messages on the answering machine.
If you receive an unsolicited call, the key points to note from this are:
⢠Never pass over your bank details, passport or driving licence
⢠Never agree to anything â not even to being sent information
⢠Always speak with your regulated financial planner
⢠Take a note of the callerâs full name, phone number, company name and company address and FCA number (if they are authorised they must have one)
⢠If you are able to record the conversation, do so
⢠Report the matter to the FCA and Action Fraud
⢠If they persist in calling, do not answer the call and block the number
⢠If you do answer the phone, state the FCA are now dealing with the matter.
The Financial Conduct Authority have provided a very useful online guide: http://scamsmart.fca.org.uk/
If you have lost money, then contact Action fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at www.actionfraud.police.uk
