Protecting yourself from investment fraud

Look out for the following warning signs:

• Offers which look too good to be true - These could either be investments which promise a guaranteed or quick return, or savings bonds where interest rates are noticeably higher than elsewhere in the market. Fraudsters may ‘clone’ genuine (regulated) firms to make investments appear genuine or use fake comparison websites to highlight offers.
• Unregulated Firms or Brokers - Many investment frauds involve firms or brokers who are not regulated (or simply don’t exist).
• Cold Calls and high-pressure selling tactics - Regulated Firms are banned from making unsolicited marketing calls. Fraudsters will often cold call and use high pressure selling tactics to persuade victims to hand over their cash.
• Online Adverts and Fake Celebrity Endorsements - Fraudsters have increasingly looked to search engines and social media to advertise fake investments. They will often contain fake celebrity endorsements from known and trusted public figures.
• Statements showing high returns very quickly - Fraudsters will use these to persuade victims they are getting good returns on their investment. This is to persuade victims to invest more money into the scam.
• Pyramid Scams - Some scams rely on a constant supply of new investors, whose money is used to pay ‘returns’ to victims who joined earlier in the scheme. These scams rely on victims recommending the investments to friends and family and will often offer incentives to do so. When the supply of new investors runs out, the scheme collapses and only the fraudsters benefit.
   

Protect yourself from Investment Scams

• Research before investing. If your investment is unregulated, be aware that all of your money is at risk.
• Don’t fall for hard selling tactics. If necessary, take the name of the caller, their number and the firm they represent and hang up. Call the FCA’s consumer helpline 0800 111 6768 to confirm the seller is registered.
• Check if the financial firm is authorised and has permission to provide the service you are seeking via the FCA Firm Checker https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/fca-firm-checker
• Check if a regulated firm has been cloned by fraudsters by checking the FCA Warning List: https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/warning-list
• Use information from the FCA Financial Services Register to contact the firm and validate any offers you have found.
• Research the internet to see if the firm you are investing with has a good reputation and if there are any negative reviews. Be mindful that fake positive reviews can easily be made.
• If investing in cryptocurrency, make sure only you set up access to the crypto wallet. If this was set up by someone else, they will have access to your money.
• Remember that if the offer appears to be too good to be true; it probably is.