don't get fooled -Warwickshire Trading Standards - Protect yourself from fraudsters

​Since the outbreak of COVID-19 many investors large and small have seen a fall in the value of their investments caused by a hugely volatile stock market.
Fraudsters are seeking to take advantage of this situation by cold calling or emailing consumers offering people the opportunity to invest in schemes or products that appear to offer high returns in a difficult financial climate, sometimes by claiming that the investments are ‘healthcare’ related. In reality, fraudsters offer ‘too good to be true’ investments that are either worthless or don’t even exist.

Advice for investors
• Beware of any unexpected approach offering you shares or investments. Remember, fraudsters may falsely claim to represent genuine businesses. Some fraudsters have even gone as far as cloning the websites of real investment companies. Others use glossy brochures to make them appear genuine and professional.

• If an investment opportunity seems ‘too good to be true’ it usually is!

• Never provide personal or financial information to a cold caller or buy goods or services.
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• Be a ‘ScamSmart’ investor, follow the advice produced by the Financial Services Authority and check their warning list: 

www.fca.org.uk/scam smart

www.scamwatch.uk/