Investment fraud is when a criminal convinces you to put money into a fake investment. They promise high returns with little or no risk.
Criminals might:
- Contact your business by phone, email or social media with time-limited offers
- Set up cloned websites pretending to be legitimate investment firms
- Send you paperwork with official branding to add a layer of credibility to their scams
- Send you initial payments to show “returns” on your investment, to convince you to invest larger sums of money
- Use fake celebrity endorsements or fake testimonies from people who’ve allegedly received large profits
Protect your business
Do your research on the company first before you part with any business information
Be cautious of celebrity endorsed investment ads or those offering very high returns
Be cautious of unsolicited approaches presenting your business with exclusive investment opportunities
Do your research and check the company on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Firm Checker: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/fca-firm-checker.
A-Z of business scams
Take Five to Stop Fraud
Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you’ll let your guard down for just a moment. Stop and think. It could protect you and your money.
STOP
Take a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information. It could keep you safe.
CHALLENGE
Ask yourself, could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
PROTECT
Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.