You may have seen emails alerting you to a new fraud specific to the financial services advice industry. We are not aware of any of our clients having been targeted in the way described below, but it is our responsibility to do everything we can to educate our clients about these scams to avoid any harm coming to them.
The fraudsters claim to be from the Financial Conduct Authority or local law enforcement and target clients of investment management firms. They are advising clients that the investment manager, adviser or firm is under investigation. The fraudster specifically asks the client not to speak to their investment manager, adviser or firm, or even close connections, claiming this would be considered tipping off. The client is then advised to encash their portfolio and move the cash to the client’s bank account. Once this is done, the fraudster then ‘recommends’ an investment which is actually a scam.
Clients should be warned to be extra vigilant if they receive any unexpected communications from third parties about their relationship with their Nexus Global financial adviser or the company. If they do receive suspicious instructions, they are advised to check the legitimacy of these. If clients believe they have been a victim of fraud, they should report it to the police as soon as possible. The sooner the fraud is reported, the greater the chance of containing or minimizing the damage.
Nexus Global members are asked to pay attention to the regular emails sent reminding you about electronic communication safety and scams. If you have been impacted by such a fraud, please alert Blacktower Risk or your local Compliance Team in case we can take additional steps as a business.
Further advice can be found at –
Gibraltar – https://www.fsc.gi/consumer-guides/fraud
Cyprus – https://www.cysec.gov.cy/en-GB/public-info/warnings/
USA – https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts
Cayman – https://www.cima.ky/know-your-money-dont-be-a-victim-of-fraud
