“Your high street bank will currently only offer you between 0.7%-1.5% on a newly issued bond of between 1-5 years,” the fraudulent pitch.
“However, we provide higher returns by eliminating much of the red tape and fees that are associated with high street banks. Instead, we charge a standard broker fee and pass the remaining savings on to our clients with higher returns.” the pitch said.
English flavour
Barrenjoey, which is owned by fund manager Magellan, UK bank Barclays and staff, is the latest firm to be impersonated in what is believed to be a global scam.
Other Australian and domestic institutions that have had their brands used by scammers include IFM Investors, HSBC, PIMCO, Citibank, Vanguard, Nomura, Commonwealth Bank and UBS among several others.
The scam was first noticed in January 2021 when a fake IFM Investors document was circulated, soliciting interest in a high-yield bond fund. But the offer raised alarms because of its above-market yields of more than 9 per cent and the fact that the industry super fund-owned manager had never raised money directly from the public.
Australian police have since made several arrests in connection to the scam which involves doctored emails and investment documents, and imposters that attempt to convince ordinary Australians to make deposits to buy bonds that don’t exist.
The corporate regulator has also warned about the rising prevalence of bond scams.
These scams typically involve convincing victims to deposit funds into…
