Investment scams are certainly not a new phenomenon, writes Simon Goldthorpe, but they have never been more prominent or sophisticated than in recent times. Here he looks at three ways advisers can tackle fraudsters and their tactics…
Gone are the days when cold calls would be the primary go-to for fraudsters. Social media, financial influencers and the growing popularity of unregulated investments such as crypto have all opened up new avenues for attack.
Take MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis, who’s now routinely forced to warn his followers against websites using his name and image to promote fraudulent investment opportunities.
Meanwhile, The Sun newspaper recently told the story of a 77-year-old RAF veteran who, having unknowingly invested in a cryptocurrency scam, lost £800,000 after the crooks tricked him into taking out loans and equity from his home.
With new tactics mushrooming faster than the industry and regulators can take steps to prevent them, the likelihood of us stamping out scams altogether is sadly looking very slim.
That said, there a number of things – from basic education to changing the way we talk about ‘conventional’ investment products – we can do to make scammers’ lives more difficult.
Keeping clients informed
Pretty much every adviser I know has ad-hoc conversations with clients about scams, but given the plethora of new methods coming to light in the current climate, having this on the agenda for regular meetings as standard would be a…
