Investment Scam Warning

Investment Scam Warning

What is an investment scam?

Investment scams are fake but extremely appealing, highly convincing and tempting investment opportunities. Scammers will impersonate real people from genuine financial services firms over the telephone, email, online, on social media or post with the fraudsters doing as much as they can to get you to invest, fast.

We will never make an unsolicited call to you or send you an email unless the communication is directly related to a fund or service that you already have with us. If you receive an unsolicited phone call or email from somebody trying to promote Slater funds and services, claiming to be from Slater Investments, please be very wary, even if they claim to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Help to stay safe from scams

Scams are often smart, sophisticated and hard to spot so we’ve created this page to help you protect yourself from fraud.

  • Your financial information and secure login details are valuable, so don’t share them with anyone – even if they’re claiming to be us. We will never ask you to tell us these.
  • Choose passwords you can remember easily instead of writing them down.
  • Scams usually start with someone getting in touch out of the blue. An email, a telephone call or text message you weren’t expecting can be convincing but stay wary and hang up or don’t reply. If you are at all concerned you should contact us immediately on our office telephone number on 020 7220 9460. Slater Investments will never call you out of the blue offering you investment opportunities.
  • Don’t click links or open emails unless you’re confident the email is really from a sender you know.
  • If it sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. Stay sceptical.
  • Scammers often try to put pressure on you to make a quick decision. Always take your time to check things out before going ahead.
  • We will never ask you to move money to a ‘safe’ account or to switch SIPP or ISA providers, so if someone contacts you asking you to do this, it’s a scam.
  • We will never contact you by WhatsApp, text message or on other forms of social media chat type functions, so if someone joins you into a group or contacts you over social media claiming to be us, it’s a scam.
  • We will never email you from any address other than those associated with our operational business, on some occasions this may be from our administrators e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]
  • Scammers take advantage of current events to steal, so check a trusted source, like the MoneyHelper (https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk) regularly to stay a step ahead of the latest scams.
  • Scammers will use very convincing fake brochures, fake news, fake websites and transcripts and can appear convincing. Always take your time to check the website address or whether the brochures look similar to anything you have received from us previously. 
  • Scammers will use real names of people employed by Slater Investments and try to prove it to you by directing you to the FCA Register. If that happens, please hang up and call our office telephone number on 020 7220 9460.

 

The types of scams people might try:

Investment scams usually involve someone unexpectedly calling and inviting you to invest quickly in a scheme with very attractive returns and low risk. Remember, it’s easy enough to produce authentic looking paperwork and add pressure by making it a ‘limited time offer’ but don’t be rushed into a quick decision – always take the time to make proper checks before investing your money.

It’s also very easy to create authentic looking websites or fake Facebook adverts, using what look to be genuine numbers and email links.  These websites/adverts are invariably only up briefly, while they are needed, then taken down until they are needed again.

Scammers may create authentic looking websites and use search engine optimisation techniques to ensure that the website is listed high up on any search engine results.  This relies on the individual assuming that top listed searches would be authentic.  We would recommend to double check the domain name you are being invited to click on and ensure that it has ‘https:// in the domain name.  The ‘s’ is important as it indicates that the connection is secure and encrypted.  Scammers tend not to go to the trouble of building this into their fake websites.

The investment industry has seen a significant increase in fraudulent individuals using the names, registration numbers and contact details of authorised firms and individuals to create authenticity and convince consumers of their legitimacy. These fraudulent websites/adverts and their content are not legitimate and have been created fraudulently using authorised cloned company details to convince unsuspecting consumers that they are genuine.

Pension scams usually follow the same approach as investment scams – contact out of the blue for an offer that’s too good to be true. It usually involves promising to help you ‘unlock’ your pension by transferring money to a different pension scheme. Retirees and people nearing retirement are targeted because they’re able to access large sums of money.

Scammers share lists of previous victims to commit recovery fraud. They contact people on these lists with the promise of the recovery of lost investments.

What to do:

As well as following all the tips at the top of the page:

  • Check the contact details of anyone who gets in touch by contacting us directly to make sure you’re dealing with the genuine firm; and
  • Do not give out any of your personal, investment or pension details.

You can check the FCA’s Register to see if you’re dealing with a regulated business. If they’re not regulated, you can report them to the FCA. If they keep contacting you when you’ve asked them to stop, just block their email address and phone number.

How to contact us

If you have received what you think is a suspicious email or telephone call from someone posing as a representative from Slater Investments, please stop, think and review and contact us immediately to confirm whether the contact was from us either by telephoning us on:  020 7220 9460 or send an email to [email protected]. 

Do you need extra help?

If you would like this page in another format (for example audio, large print, braille) please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ above).

Useful links:

Government website: https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing

FCA specialist webpage: https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart

FCA ScamSmart: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/protect-yourself-scams

Help if you’ve been scammed:

If the worst has happened and you’ve been scammed you can contact Action Fraud police for advice or to make a report by calling 0300 123 2040 or visiting their website www.actionfraud.police.uk

or by calling the police directly by dialling 101.