Investors have been warned by the Financial Conduct Authority against investing with an unauthorised firm that is using high-pressure ‘boiler room’ tactics and the name of regulated broker and advisory firm Chelsea Financial Services.
In an alert issued on its website, the regulator said the ‘clone’ is giving out the regulated firm’s postal address in Moore Park Road, London, to convince investors of its credentials, but it is giving out a different telephone number, email address and website address.
The telephone address given is 0203 514 5582, while the email and web address given are www.chelseafinancial.org and info@chelseafinancial.org respectively. At the time of writing, the website is still active.
The FCA’s intervention comes after Chelsea itself reported the clone to the watchdog in December.
As reported by FTAdviser sister title Financial Adviser earlier this month, a warning posted on Chelsea Financial Services’ website stated that individuals claiming to be representatives of ‘Chelsea Financial’ are offering investment propositions and asking people to send them money.
Its warning said: “This is what is called a ‘clone firm’; and fraudsters usually use this tactic when contacting people out of the blue, so you should be especially wary if you have been cold-called. They may use the name of a genuine firm and other details.”
A spokesperson for the genuine Chelsea Financial Services said: “We know nothing of ‘Chelsea Financial’ and would like to urge our clients to be vigilant and, if you think you have been approached by these people, please report the incident immediately to the FCA.
“We ourselves have spoken to the FCA and asked it to investigate this as a matter of urgency.”
