Dealing with investment scams
An investment scam is when you are tricked into handing over money in the belief that you are making an investment. You may be contacted out of the blue about this investment, see it advertised online, be told about it by someone online or be contacted in a social media post comment section about an investment opportunity.
There will likely be urgency around making the investment and the promise of returns is likely to be too good to be true. They may also have asked you to keep the investment quiet.
Usually the investment opportunity doesn’t exist - or the investment does exist, but the criminal takes the money and doesn’t invest it.
The criminal may have a website and investment platform that looks legitimate. It might even have a section where you can see your investment and profits. You may also have an ‘Account Manager’ who is messaging you about your investment.
The criminal is likely to disappear with the money or ask you to pay taxes or fees to withdraw your profits.
Investment scams - Do this first!
Stop all communication with the criminals - do not provide any more information or money. Do not respond to any messages from them.
Report it to Action Fraud - if you have lost money then it is highly likely a crime has been committed. Either way report it to Action Fraud.
Contact your Bank - call your bank and explain the issue. If the payment is recent then they may be able to freeze your money before it goes to the criminals. You can also report using the Cybera reporting tool.
Change passwords - if you have logged into any accounts as part of the scam or provided passwords change these immediately (and remember to change the other places you use that password). Check this guide for creating strong passwords.
Approaches to dealing with investment scams
If you did a screenshare scan your devices - if the criminal asked you to download any software so they could access your computer to help with the investment application then remove this software ASAP and run an antivirus scan. You can see our guide on moving malicious software here.
Try getting your money back - Use our guide to see different approaches to trying to recover any lost funds.
Gather all communications from the criminals - to support a police or bank investigation it is important to save all of the evidence. Screenshot all messages and save the images in a secure place. Save any emails to a folder or secure inbox. If you can build a timeline of events listing what happened and when.
List all information you have shared - while capturing the evidence, review what information you have shared with the criminal and make a list. Change any passwords immediately, if email addresses have been shared then be careful of incoming emails and any financial details shared should be reported to your bank or card issuer.
Contact any impersonated companies - it may be that the criminal was pretending to represent a real company. If so, contact this organisation and explain what happened. If you have an account with that company ask them to check the security of your account and review any recent activity.
Report it to the FCA - You can report financial scams to the Financial Conduct Authority here. This may stop more people from getting scammed.
Check your credit report - Check what else the criminal has done with your information. A credit report will show you any searches done by a lender, what date the search took place, what name and address it was done against and also for what type of application. It will also show what credit accounts are set up in your name. You can contact any one of these credit reference agencies and receive support in resolving credit report problems caused by identity fraud. Popular companies that can provide your credit report include: Noddle, Equifax, Experian and ClearScore.
Take out CIFAS Protective Registration - CIFAS Protective registration makes it harder for loans and financial credit to be taken out in your name. Adding this protection could limit any further issues.
Beware recovery scams - Once you stop responding many criminals will contact you pretending to be the police or your bank offering to help you, but really scamming you out of more money. Do not engage with any incoming calls, emails or text messages from these sources.
How do I reduce the chance of being caught up in an investment scam?
Don’t be rushed - if you are being rushed to make an investment before you are ready then don’t invest. Being rushed is a common sign of a scam.
Trust your gut - many victims felt something wasn’t right before investing, but took the chance. Trust your gut and don’t invest if you think something isn’t right.
Check the website - You can use the Get Safe Online Check a Website service to check the risk of the website being a scam.
Contact the company directly - if the person says they work for a well known financial brand then contact that organisation through its website and check if the contact and the investment are real.
Do some research - search for the company, investment or contact you are dealing with online. See if you can find any reviews or feedback on the investment. Often others will share that they have been scammed online.
Check to see if they are registered with the FCA - check Companies House and the Financial Conduct Authority to check if the company is real and licensed to operate in the UK.
Check to see if they are on the FCA Alert list - use the FCA Warning Tool to check if it is a known scam.
Speak to someone - If in doubt talk to someone who might be able to help you decide if this is a legitimate investment opportunity.
Be careful of unsolicited messages - any messages you receive offering an investment may be a scam. Instead of responding, research the official website for that provider and contact them direct.
Good online security & privacy - Keeping your security and privacy strong online will go a long way to stop you being targeted. Use sites like Get Safe Online to see how you can keep yourself safe.
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