ProSearch Scam

campster66

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

Well, that may be true but it seems that you are in a very small minority of their customers or potential customers.




Did the price that you paid include a staff discount?

Thats what is wrong with things like this- as soon as u say something different, youre immediately jumped on.
No- I didnt - on the basis that I dont work for the company. It would be a rather long commute from where I live.
I had a good experience- simple as that.

gary38uk

well after getting the said letter offering me £9 (which i have not acted on) i joined the equiniti shareviw service (its free) to see my shares which shows what i expected and there is no outstanding dividends. (have lived at same address ever since had the shares and receive all the stuff they send out to do with the shares) so i have no idea why i should had even had the said letter?

FabCat wrote: »

Some of you suggest that there is no connection between Equinity and ProSearch. However, it is clear that there is if you look at the bottom of their headed paper. It clearly states that ProSearch is a subsidiary of Equinity. Therefore, while ProSearch is a company in its own right, it is connected with Equinity. On this basis the chances are that ProSearch obtains information about shareholdings from Equinity. It's best to deal directly with Equinity to keep any costs to a minimum. I hope that this helps.

zebras-ark

I know this is a relatively old thread but 'nothing changes'. I rec'd a letter a month ago from Prosearch advising me of 'unclaimed benefits' etc. I have lived at present address for 20 years, have received correspondence from Equiniti without any apparent problems and am registered on line as shareholder on relevant company sites.

This morning a letter arrives from ProSearch proclaiming in large red letters 'It is important that I take action to recover my entitlements by 30th May'. Hidden away in the body of the letter is the fact that this is a voluntary service but I can see how their persistence and tone of letter would pay dividends (pun intended) amongst the shareholding public.
Am not suggesting what they are doing is in any way illegal - just that I've seen more open and informative letters especially regarding their fee structure.

lizzie412

i just received a letter from pro search asking about my grandfateher who passed away over 10 years ago now. he left me some shares in santandar worth around a £1000 we lost the share certificates in a move so never thought to claim them pro search found me as i had an experian account although im not to bothered about the shares them selves they did not inform me that i could go direct to santansar because my granfather is deseased and still cash them in i think its unbeleivable that they are even willing to pray on people with dead relatives so it just not the direct beneficiary of the shares you need to worry about these people are legalised theives beware thanks to this forum i realised that before i filled in the paper work so thank you im glad im not giving these rip of merchants a sent of my gandfathers money

maggy50

I know this was an old thread but my OH has had a letter today from
Pro Search regarding an unclaimed entitlement ?

Having moved from the address they are asking him to confirm he is the person they are trying to trace and to provide them with his current address.

I take it that he will be then sent forms to fill in and agree a fee .

We feel that this must be a scam has anyone else been contacted by these people recently ?

maggy50

maggy50 wrote: »

I know this was an old thread but my OH has had a letter today from
Pro Search regarding an unclaimed entitlement ?

Having moved from the address they are asking him to confirm he is the person they are trying to trace and to provide them with his current address.

I take it that he will be then sent forms to fill in and agree a fee .

We feel that this must be a scam has anyone else been contacted by these people recently ?

Not a scam in this instance , we wrote to them and today received three cheques totalling £260. Five pounds admin charge .

It relates to premiums on shares with Santander my OH forgot about !!!

Not a huge amount but glad we contacted them .

tunathe_cat

JoJoZara wrote: »

I received a letter today from ProSearch saying I was owed £88.16 share dividends from allegedly cheques not cashed or gone astray. They would recoup the money for me for a charge of 12.5% plus VAT and they had been 'appointed' by Lloyds to 'communicate' with me. VERY FISHY!!! I thought. So rang the free phone number, told them I had no intention of paying any charges and asked for a direct number for Lloyds to sort this out myself. Given 0871 3842990 - rang this - "Lloyds Shares Help Line". A nice guy told me I'd been sent 3 cheques over 10 years ago by the 'previous' administration. He could sent me the money owed but with a £20 charge. I said no way had those cheques been sent and 'lost' or not cashed and I wanted the money and had no intention of paying £20 for it and it seemed like another 'bank scandal' in the making and asked to speak to his supervisor. He spoke to his supervisor, came back, and told me the amount would be sent in full and the charge waived. SORTED!

I received a letter dated 03/11/14. £50.51 but would be charged minimum £15.00 pro search . rang 08713842990 lloyds they will charge £20 to release monies 40% all phones cost 8 p a minute plus network charge.... administration fees would not be waived
asked lloyds customer service to confirm in writing . Have lived at this address for over 30 years

Countrylady

I came home this evening from work and found a letter from Prosearch waiting for me.
Basically informing me that a major corporation is trying to locate the following person in connection with unclaimed entitlements.
It gave the full name of my DECEASED 3 years ago husband and the address he lived at over 20 years ago!!!!
My husband was married before and was a partner in a company but because of his wife leaving him (very long story) lost everything.
I haven't a clue as to what they could possibly be referring to and decided to Google and look at their website......and very old and in need of updating it is too.
Luckily for me I found this forum so.......
Anyone who knows about this so called company any advice please?
I have e-mailed them that I will ring them on Monday which I fully intend too but after reading about them I won't have a clue as to what they are telling me.........and they know that!
As the lastest post is this current month it seems nothing has changed so.........
Any advice or any words of wisdom would be extremely gratefully received please.

linkx

This is Money looked at a similar question from a reader.
Extract below and click the url for the rest of the article.

"This is what Equiniti spokesperson Stuart Ellen said: Equiniti acts as share registrar to around half of all FTSE 100 companies and manages the shareholdings and dividends of millions of shareholders and investors. In order to ensure this happens securely and accurately, we have both a legal and regulatory duty and practical need to ensure that where possible we always have the shareholder’s or investor’s current contact details."

As a knew user it seems I'm not allowed to post urls yet. Just google this is money and prosearch. It's fairly near the top. HTH.

qisuk

calleyw wrote: »

Why is it a scam?

You choose to send back the form and pay the fees rather than do the leg work yourself.

It only takes a couple of phone calls.

Pro search have costs in tracking you down and that is what you are paying for."

Calley

They don't even "track you down" The share companies and the banks have addreses already. aso they do not say that they are doing anything other than retreiving your premiums. they do not state that they are retreiving shares which they then keep or sell and give you whats left of the money.
so you won't be getting any more premiums because you no longer have any shares.