Fundsmith has warned investors about phishing scams after a number of fraudulent websites were registered.
In an update last week (July 18), the company asked investors to beware of emails purporting to be from members of the Fundsmith team requesting money transfers or for individuals to click on a link to download a file.
“If you’re not expecting an email from someone at Fundsmith then this may not be legitimate,” the update said.
“Fundsmith will never ask for payment via a link or attachment on an email.”
The company also said it is aware of two “bogus domains” that have recently been registered, fundsmithequity.co.uk, and fundsmiths.eu.
Fundsmith urged all clients to block emails from these domains and be aware of the potential for fake information, money requests, malicious attachments or links coming from emails.
The company said it takes cyber security very seriously and is liaising with domain registrars to have these domains closed.
Consumers are able to report scams to the FCA.
Scam figures
More than 5mn British consumers have fallen victim to a financial scam at some point in their lives, according to research released by Lloyds Bank and YouGov in 2019.
The pair polled 2,018 people and found that 10 per cent of adults had been duped by a financial fraudster of some form and a quarter said they knew someone else who had fallen victim to scam.
Despite these findings, four out of five of those surveyed (83 per cent) felt confident they would be able to spot a financial scam and 77 per cent believed they were able to keep up with the potential risks of scams.
A third of respondents considered themselves "clued-up" and said they had been targeted by fraudsters but were able to put a stop to it.
sally.hickey@ft.com
