£350K down the swanny

colsten

Here's a sad tale about someone who thought they should DIY their investment, even though they had no prior investment knowledge.

I have made a terrible mistake and I need some help with how to rectify it. After receiving a large inheritance from my parents, I researched and found a way to invest the money. Searching for “good investment returns” online, I found a company called Bruckner Ferdinand offering 6 per cent returns. After talking to the account manager and checking their FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) registration, I agreed to transfer £350,000 to them. After promising a follow-up, I haven’t heard anything more. The FCA say this firm was operating without authorisation. What should I do?

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/scam-money-back-clone-fraud-350000-lost-remedy-637910

barnstar2077

Ouch!

I wouldn't call this DIY though. They gave their money away instead of managing it themselves.

talexuser

It is sad beyond the usual ripostes.

Afraid_of_Kittens

Eggs in one basket springs to mind...

capital0ne

Well, if it was me, I wouldn't have invested the full amount in one fell swoop - experienced or not.

But there you go.

More youngsters are now being scammed (18-35yr olds) than old people (55-85+yr olds)

Youngsters are just easy prey now for scammers.

englishmas

What is the time span here,Can you still trace the company? if so fallow trough the police action, The most important here will be if the company still there.

here the time is more important, few days make a big difference.

OldMusicGuy

That's not what we would understand as DIY investing on here. The first rule, and something we always advise on here, is read and research before doing anything. There are many good books and internet sites to guide the novice.

Sadly, this person made a very unfortunate mistake. Something that is increasingly common as the internet allows scammers to reach so many more people than was previously possible.

seacaitch

Searching for “good investment returns” online, I found a company called Bruckner Ferdinand offering 6 per cent returns.

Searching for "scammers required to defraud me" online etc....

A common theme to these sad tales is a severe lack of financial education/knowledge, meaning the victims have absolutely no idea how to set about prudently husbanding their money themselves or how to seek trustworthy advice to help them. Little means by which to make any sensible judgements in order to protect themselves.

Often they'll think simply in terms of "interest" and seek out things seeming to offer guaranteed interest-like annual returns but which are materially higher than standard savings accounts. Because higher's better, right.

Knowing what these people will be searching for, it must be child's play for the fraudsters to construct adverts/websites/etc containing the right search terms firstly to lure them, and then delivering the message that the victims want to hear in order to securely snare them.

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

Something that is increasingly common as the internet allows scammers to reach so many more people than was previously possible.

Yup. It's a grim situation.

LHW99

checking their FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) registration

The FCA say this firm was operating without authorisation.

So is this a company that has spoofed a genuine firm's website?

steampowered

capital0ne wrote: »

More youngsters are now being scammed (18-35yr olds) than old people (55-85+yr olds)

Youngsters are just easy prey now for scammers.

That's simply a lie. The vast majority of scams are aimed at older people.

noh

steampowered wrote: »

That's simply a lie. The vast majority of scams are aimed at older people.

Younger people are more likely to fall for phishing attacks and on average lose greater amounts.

https://www.cifas.org.uk/insight/fraud-risk-focus-blog/young-people-most-at-risk-phishing-scams-says-survey