Fire Fighters Credit Union??

atypical

Rtype wrote: »

I realise that it says its protected by whatever governing bodies on the site but any old website could say that, is there actually somewhere that I can physically check to see if this site is legit? Maybe with these governing bodies?

They provide their firm reference number (213995) in the website footer which you can search for on the FSA website:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmRefSearch.do

MercenaryMan

The firm reference number listed on the site is that of a credit union listed on the Financial Services Register: 213995 - National Fire Savers Credit Union Limited

Basic details:

Current status: Authorised
Effective Date: 02/07/2002
Address: 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL
Phone: - - -
Fax:
Email: [EMAIL="info@firesavers.co.uk"]info@firesavers.co.uk[/EMAIL]
Website:

You can look up who owns a .uk website using Nominet's WHOIS tool.

In this case the details are:

Domain name: firesavers.org.uk
Registrant: Kesho Systems
Registrant type: UK Individual
Registrant's address: 218 Blythe Road, London, W14 0HH

The domain is not owned by the credit union and is listed as belonging to an individual to boot. [STRIKE]But given that the domain is used in the FSA contact email this does not necessarily mean the site is fraudulent.[/STRIKE] The .co.uk domain listed on the FSA site is different to the .org.uk domain.

Poking around the site, there is a membership form that asks for bank details that would be submitted insecurely (risking interception by 3rd parties) though there is another copy of it here that is secured.

This does not speak to a high degree of competence. Proceed with caution.

jamesd

Rtype wrote: »

I've recently stumbled across this site http://www.firesavers.org.uk/index.php, they seem to offer some very good rates for savers and I'd like to put some money in as the current savings rates are rubbish.

Being a Firefighter I'm eligible to join, but having never heard of this site in the 14yrs that I've been a in the job, I'm a bit unsure.

Can anybody tell me what checks I can do to make sure this is 100% legit?

Check the FSA Register of firms, put the name of the business in the Firm Name and click on submit.

Now look in the Basic Details section and you'll find an address and, importantly, a contact email address that is info (at) firesavers.co.uk. Notice the difference between firesavers.co.uk and firesavers.org.uk used by the site, a possible indication that firesavers.org.uk is clone fake web site and the genuine one would be at firesavers.co.uk. However, firesavers.co.uk doesn't exist as a web site (it might as a valid email address).

Based on the site and the information in the FCA Register you appear to be looking at a fake site, while the credit union itself is genuine.

That's probably wrong and it's probably genuine but not having bothered to update its contact details. One further check would be to email the info address in the FCA register to ask whether the web site address is genuine, copying this post to explain why you're doing that.

Another approach you can take is to look at the Individuals section of the register entry and see whether any of those are contactable and able to confirm that the web site is genuine even though it doesn't match the details in the register. Of those people the one that seems most likely to be best is Michael Howlin, who is listed as both a Director and the person responsible for money laundering reporting, so he should understand the reason for concerns about mismatches between a site and the register entry and also be in a position to either report a fake site or update the register entry.

jamesd

MercenaryMan wrote: »

But given that the domain is used in the FSA contact email

The domain result is for .org.uk, the contact email uses .co.uk. Those are different places and suggests fraud, not a genuine site.

jamesd

I left them voicemail suggesting that they search for their site here and update their register entry if they are the genuine organisation.

MercenaryMan

jamesd wrote: »

The domain result is for .org.uk, the contact email uses .co.uk. Those are different places and suggests fraud, not a genuine site.

You’re right - I missed that.

Lansdowne

Very many places use a different domain name for e-mail than their web site, it is quite common. Most government departments and councils for starters. If the email address is given on the web site it is obvious they are the same organization.

jamesd

No, it isn't obvious that they are the same organisation. Using similar names is also a technique used by fraudulent sites pretending to be the genuine site.

The FCA registration information has a web site value that can be provided to ensure that consumers can know which the genuine site is, if any. The genuine credit union didn't have any web site specified there and may not even have one.

I still think it is a genuine site or I wouldn't have phoned to mention the problem. But think wouldn't cause me to send any financial information, an opinion isn't good enough for that.

patientperson

A couple of links that you might care to look at.

http://www.creditunions.co.uk/

http://www.creditunions.co.uk/search.php?filled=1&condition=and&whichtype=links Search 20 miles from London throws up the firesavers

jamesd

Then look at the listing there and click on the Edit button and you'll find that the details can be changed.