Is this a scam

geoff_52

Hi guys and gals, I saw a company (Fluid Bond isa) advertising on facebook with an isa which they claim give 6% a year, is this a scam! has anyone else come across this isa, they wont send out any details of the isa until they have spoken to you on the phone, any advice please

Mistermeaner

geoff_52 wrote: »

Hi guys and gals, I saw a company (Fluid Bond isa) advertising on facebook with an isa which they claim give 6% a year, is this a scam! has anyone else come across this isa, they wont send out any details of the isa until they have spoken to you on the phone, any advice please

Scam

More letters

msallen

Of course its a scam.
Do yourself a massive favour and don't click on any financial adverts on arsebook.

Aidanmc

Fluid Isa seems to be an Innovative Finance Isa, dont know if it is actually a scam as such. But not FSCS protected.

OldMusicGuy

It is branded as an innovative finance ISA. But like Aidanmc says, there is no FSCS protection for this investment so you could lose everything.

It clearly says on their webpage:

"Your Capital is at Risk, investment is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the investment may be difficult to transfer and your investment can go down as well as up. You must read our risk page in full before proceeding".

So don't invest unless you are prepared to lose everything. And you should also do due diligence into this company BEFORE investing to ensure you don't end up like the people who swallowed similar high return ISA promises from London Capital & Finance. Just Google their name to find out more.

FYI "due diligence" does not mean speaking to someone on the phone. It means looking at their accounts and details held at Companies House to ensure there is nothing like LC&F going on here. If you are not capable of that, then IMO you should stay away.

bowlhead99

Aidanmc wrote: »

Fluid Isa seems to be an Innovative Finance Isa, dont know if it is actually a scam as such. But not FSCS protected.

Agreed. Best to avoid financial promotions targeted at naive users of Facebook which is not known for providing unbiased financial education.

"Investment into the Fluid Bond is enabling the development of much-needed residential properties in the North West – one of the fastest growing areas of the UK – whilst also potentially providing bondholders with a steady and reliable source of income"

They say "potentially providing" because there is no certainty that the projects will be successful enough to provide the income, let alone enable the return of the capital cost of the bond, to be made to the people who invest.

rr755507

It's an unregulated investment, no FSCS protection, 100% capital at risk and off the scale in terms of risk.

It is not a retail product, and should only be targetting high net worth & sophisticated investors. It adverts shouldn't be on Facebook.

Whether it is a scam or not, I do not know. But if it is not, it is still an extremely speculative, non-transparent investment, with a likelihood of capital loss.

Stick to savings accounts, cash ISAs. Or regulated investments.

jamei305

If you hadn't seen it on Facebook but some bloke had knocked on your door, claiming he knew some builders who were knocking down a few houses to build new ones, and he wanted to borrow some cash off you and promised to pay you just 6% if the projects all worked out, what would you say?


Would you buy a £2 lottery ticket each week if the maximum prize was £2.36

Aretnap

As above, even if it is legitimate, it is very high risk. You are lending your money to a single company. If the company goes bust you will lose most or all of your money, and nobody will compensate you or bail you out.

Why would you lend your money to this company in particular, as opposed to the thousands of other companies you could invest in either by buying bonds or by buying shares? Do you think their business model is more sound than any other company? Do you think their balance sheet is the healthiest in the business?

NB "because they advertise on Facebook" is not a good reason for investing; in fact it's a reason for being suspicious as it suggests that they think they have a better chance of selling their bonds to the general public than to professional investors. That in turn suggests that professional investors would regard this as an unattractive investment.

So even in the best case scenario this is much more risky than investing in the stock market, where your money would be spread across a large number of companies rather than all being tired to the fortunes of a single company. The worst case scenario of course is that the company is run along the lines of London Capital and Finance (Google them) and that it exists purely to extract money from gullible savers.

dunstonh

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/investing-innovative-finance-isas

Investments held in IFISAs are generally high-risk with the money ultimately being invested in products like mini-bonds or peer-2-peer investments.

These types of investments may not be protected by the Financial Service Compensation Scheme so customers may lose the money invested or find it hard to get back.

Anyone considering investing in an IFISA should carefully consider where their money is being invested before purchasing an IFISA.

AnotherJoe

As far as I can ascertain, just about anything financial advertised on Facebook is either a scam or a highly risky product disguised as a safe investment.
So, just steer clear of any financial product advertised on Facebook.