The head of financial planning for deVere United Kingdom said the firm was preparing a follow-up report to the FCA following claims it was the victim of an elaborate cloning scam. The firm raised initial concerns on cloning in May.
Mr White said: “It has become clear that scammers are using the identity of deVere UK to dupe unsuspecting people into investing large amounts of their life savings based on their so-called advice, often using aggressive sales tactics.
“The fraudsters are going to extraordinary lengths to make their scam look genuine. They are adopting a company name and address which could easily be mistaken for our legitimate ones, they are designing websites, stationery, and business cards to appear like our legitimate ones, and some are even going as far as impersonating our legitimate advisers.
“Unfortunately this type of scam is becoming increasingly common and deVere UK is not the only advisory and investment firm to fall victim to clone firms.
“Cloning is extremely dangerous for would-be investors because they will not be protected by the FSCS or the Financial Ombudsman Service as the clones are totally unregulated.
“These clone scams could also undermine confidence in the wider financial advisory industry, which could discourage people from seeking the important financial advice they need to reach their long-term financial objectives.”
FCA response
A spokesman for the FCA said: “Education is one of the most effective tools for preventing people becoming victims of scams. Therefore we welcome this drive, and any drive, to raise awareness of share fraud and boiler rooms.”
Clone firms and the FCA
Last week the FCA issued several warnings against firms allegedly conducting unauthorised business in the UK. Among these were Ava Capital Markets and NCP Capital Partners, which the City watchdog said were clone firms. According to the FCA, the London and Hong-Kong based Ava Capital Markets Limited that has been cold-calling investors is a clone of a Dublin-based FCA, European Economic Authority authorised firm. The FCA also said that the boiler room name NCP Financials (also Northland and Northland Capital Partners) had nothing to do with the genuine, FCA-registered Northland Capital Partners LLP.
