Reclaim of missold shares from companies in default - scam ?

choppy-c

Good day all,

My mother in law has been approached by a company claiming that she is due (OR) can claim compensation for having lost money due to bad advice (Companies in default also mentioned) - I ( & probably she also doesnt know ) if she holds such shares in 1st place, certainlyb has a few ! - Before i go further is this obviously a scam or phishing or a new version of no win no fee - Semi reasonable website lots of bonafide links (but thats easy) mention of fsa everywhere & legal bumph etc but i confess i dont know what im looking at.

Investigation may cause her upset & confusion so quick bit of background appreciated as this is a new 1 to me

Many thanks as ever

dunstonh

Yes its almost certianly a scam. Its probably an advanced fee scam where they tell her she is entitled to £large amount but to get it she has to pay £relatively small amount.

Apart from shares, investment information is not in the public domain. If she thinks she has had bad advice she should contact her adviser. If she is not satisfied with the response, then the complaints process and the omdudsman is free of charge for her to use.

If it is about shares, then you cannot really complain about advice as very little advice is given with shares.

Post the link to the site and let us look at it. The regulars here can find scam sites very easily.

choppy-c

ok I will post more info when i spoken to her direct - my wife confronted me with this earlier so i really need to speak 1st with her mother - The google shows some quite interesting results for - broker check uk - however.

ashleypride

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes its [STRIKE]almost[/STRIKE] certianly a scam

Just had to correct that Rest of your post is spot on.

Annisele

Some firms do give advice about shares, and some have come a cropper over it (eg Pacific Continental, Mansion House, Wills).

If your mother-in-law really has been badly advised with respect to shares, she can complain directly to the adviser - and then she won't lose a third of the compensation to the claims management company.

However, as dunstonh says, on the face of it its unlikely that she was advised - most shares are sold on an execution only basis.

choppy-c

Thanks for info so far - It seems there maybe a bit more than initially suspected (Thats families for you) lady did originally buy some shares via Wills & then spent (& gave up) several phone calls asking them to sell to no avail - lots of BS by sound of it (Now i dont know Wills but i am building an impression)

So the question is does Mother in law (MIL in forum speak ??) actually have some sort of a claim (Which shoots down my retort/advice to her about staying away from scammers & something for nothing, too good to be true etc etc)
If so my understanding from previuous posters is that that would be directed through ombudsman or fsa rather than the fee grabbers / scammers delete as applicable

Lastly how did they get her details (contact via letter) or is it just a lucky hit on their part ?

Annisele

If she's complaining about Wills, then she needs to go to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) rather than to Wills itself. It's possible that she does have a claim - however, Wills can't possibly have misbehaved in all of its transactions, so it's also possible that she doesn't.

You do not need to pay anybody to go to FSCS; it's a free service. If your MIL wants you to represent her, you can.

I suspect the claims company got her details from a shareholders register. Some small companies sold a large number of their shares through Wills, so if you go through a list of their shareholders as a CMC you'll likely get a good hit rate.