Help... dodgy financial services company

jclet

Hi,

This is kind of a last resort. Apologies if this is not the right place for this thread but it seemed the most appropriate compared to all the rest.

I have been trying to track down a company called Temple Bar International, but everything I try is a dead end. I've called all the numbers I could track down, they all go through to random answering services. I've sent off emails to all the addresses I could find, they all get returned with mail delivery errors. I've even searched for info on LinkedIn and even though I can see the company details and all employees, it's impossible to make contact.

I've been trying to sort this out for years and I want to know how I can track them down or even find out if they are legit. Their website is a complete joke and the whois lookup says they have not complied with the legal contact requirements for the domain. It also says on their site that they are not regulated by the FSA (yes, very dodgy).

Please help.... thanks.

Reaper

Unlike typical scam operations they have been around for years. They seem to be aimed at ex-pats and if they are not conducting business in the UK there is no need for them to be registered with the FSA. I get the impression they are heavily sales orientated taking on staff with no financial knowledge to cold call customers to make appointments with advisors. That would put me off in a big way but does not necesarily mean they are not legit (as long as they are not cold calling people in the UK).

Sorry, I can't help you with contact details beyond what you have already found.

jclet

Yup, sounds just like them. It's odd that there is absolutely no information on this place. What little info I could find out about the employees suggested that they are NOT qualified to advise people on important financial decisions.

I have managed to track down the guy who is responsible for this mess but because he no longer works for this place, he has absolved himself of all responsibility. He is living it up in South Africa, working for another finance company.

If this Temple Bar place is like some kind of umbrella finance setup, would the individual be held responsible for the mess he has caused?

Reaper

Being a non-UK organisation liability will depend on the laws of the country they are operating from. Organising a court case from abroad is not something I would want to take on, and I guess that is why almost all of the scam companies don't set up in the same country as the people they are targeting (not that I think a scam is involved here).

Too late for you now but if I was an expat I would only deal with big names for my savings and investments.

Can you call their Sales numbers? If it is an answerphone leave a message as if you are a new customer to get them to call you back. Companies like this tend to still eagerly answer sales enquires while being completely disinterested in after sales service.

Good luck.