City of London Police has shut down a suspected boiler room scam, making one arrest.
This is the second such incident this month, following three arrests made at the start of August to shut down an alleged boiler room scam that involved selling investments in wine.
According to the police a man was arrested yesterday (10 August) on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
The man is thought to be part of a group using an address at Old Broad Street in the City and were using the address to cold call to persuade people to invest in cryptocurrency.
A cryptocurrency is a means of exchange traded electronically, and while the prices of several such currencies have risen stoutly this year, they are not recognised by any central bank.
Detective Inspector Mark Forster said: “Investment fraudsters are still targeting people throughout the country and they employ aggressive sales tactics which are often used to pressurise unsuspecting victims into parting with large sums of money.
“These people often base themselves in the City as they believe having an address in a prestigious financial district will help to legitimise their fraud.
“I urge anyone who is cold called and offered investment opportunities to simply put the phone down – a legitimate company will never cold call you and put you in a position where you need to make an investment on the spot.”
Detectives from the City of London police’s fraud squad made the arrest after a raid on the man’s house at 6.30am following a complaint to Action Fraud, a police national fraud reporting service.
Nine complaints have been made via the Action Fraud line in relation to this case, with investor losses expected to be in the region of £160,000.
Salespeople were allegedly cold calling investors to persuade them to invest in a cryptocurrency that does not exist, and so is worthless.
david.thorpe@ft.com
