Stagecoach Shares - phone scam?

MoneySaverLog

Boiler rooms. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is :-(

Bedworth

Quick update: our customer understood when I explained it was a con, and was very grateful - most of that thanks belongs to you lot, though it's a bit difficult to pass on his handshake! He says he'll contact Trading Standards.

[Deleted User]

They were claiming to be buying shares for Trinity Mirror Holdings too.

brewerdave

I had a phone call fairly recently about Mitchells & Butler shares ...almost identical story as above..wanted to buy my shares in connection with take over,paying ~ £8 per share (over 3x current price).
I think that the scammers pick on a company which has some financial difficulties - certainly M & B fought off an attempted take over last Autumn.

KTM_Gordo

What worries me is how they got my name and phone number, and knew I held those particular shares.

All my shares are held by a nominee company (my broker), so my name doesn't appear on the shareholders register.

GroundedKat

I received a similar call from a woman (Asian accent, obviously calling from a call centre) who told me she was from an investment firm operating on behalf of a client wishing to undertake a hostile takeover of Centrica and who were therefore wishing to buy my Centrica shares at between £7 and £18. I only own a v small number of shares but I asked a lot of questions so the call went on for a while. the first thing she impressed on me was the absolute need for confidentiality and said that I would be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. I eventually gave her an email address I don't often use to send it to. The whole thing seemed very fishy. In the course of the conversation the amount of money that I stood to gain increased and increased - to tens of thousands of pounds - she said it was for a hostile takeover, which meant that her client, who already owned 41% of the company was looking to increase their stake to 51% so that they could strip the assets from the company - she hoped I wasn't upset by that - but she was not at liberty to reveal the name of the client. Eventually she revealed that I would also be required to pay an 'insurance bond' of several thousand - I didn't quite catch how much she said - to guarantee to her client that I would be willing to go ahead with the sale. I said that I was definitely not interested, and that it sounded like a scam to me, at which she backtracked and said I 'shouldn't worry about that just now'. After the call she emailed a confidentiality agreement, which I haven't signed - purportedly from
Administration Department
Bramwell & Kent Consultants, LLC

Address: 745 7th Ave. New York, NY.10019
Phone : 1 646 205 2004
Fax : 1 646 619 4589

the email is info at bramwellkent dot com which is the same as the website - looks colourful but not very enlightening

I've now reported this on the FSA website, anything else I should do? Thanks

LabradorMum

My brother has been contacted by these scammers in the last couple of days :mad:- exact same story as the others who have posted on here- fortunately he mentioned it to me (his uber-suspicious sister) and through this site (and others) I was able to confirm my suspicions that it was a scam and that he shouldn't touch these people with a barge-pole. It's scary the lengths these people go to in order to make everything look legit, with a fancy website and 'official-looking' forms. It's understandable how people of a more trusting nature could be taken in at first, although I can't for the life of me understand why people would actually send them the money they ask for as an 'insurance bond'.

ANI

I had the same call as Grounded Kat above with exactly the same details (Centrica takeover etc). They knew I had Centrica shares and just wanted me to sign a Non disclosure agreement which didn't seem like much to ask. The other difference was that company was called Alpha Corporate Consultants with a very proffesional website. A google search on the company didn't show and "scam" results. SO I sent of the NDA and now I have received the next call which is saying that I will need to pay "insurance" for the transaction. Obviously wasn't going to do this and now having done another search have found a few websites where this scam is coming up. Will look to see what forms they send through but please steer clear of this. I will be passing on details of this company to the FSA. Thanks for all the posts on this subject. Amazed at how sophisticated these guys are getting

MoneySaverLog

The Non Disclosure Agreement is because they don't want you to talk to anyone about it cause they know as soon as you do they'll talk you out of it saying it is a scam which is the last thing these scammers want. They'll also have your name, address and signature if you send that off, and probably a photocopy of your ID which is probably all they need to start ID Fraud too.

I doubt very much anyone would take over Centrica in such a way as to pay that amount per share when they are trading at around £3.20. They're playing on the greed factor. It's a scam well and truly.

jimjames

Unfortunately just because someone has a professional website doesn't mean they are legit.

You do not EVER have to pay third parties insurance, lawyers fees, holding fees or any other excuse for money to sell shares in a takeover. Any cold call asking to buy shares in 100% a scam