Scam?

[Deleted User]

I have a relative who I am convinced is being scammed.

He was phoned by a 'nice' American woman, who persuaded my relative to invest in a share takeover of Centrica shares. 

He has signed a form agreeing to a contract to pay £4000, being promised that within a few months he will receive £40,000.

Although he was asked not to tell anyone, he did tell us, and he himself is concerned.  But he believes that because he has signed some form of contract he will be forced to pay.  The woman phones every evening and says he has signed an agreement, and he must follow through.

Can anyone please advise?

Thank you

masonic

Scam.                

eskbanker

Clearly a scam - tell him not to part company with any money, regardless of pressure, and block the number or don't answer....

flaneurs_lobster

Well, you are right, it is a scam.

Sounds like your relative has yet to part with any money, please convince them not to do so.

Any chance you could be around the next time the "nice woman" calls? Introduce yourself as "Chief Inspector John Smith of the Financial Crimes Unit" and see what they say.

dunstonh

He was phoned by a 'nice' American woman, who persuaded my relative to invest in a share takeover of Centrica shares. 

That is your first alarm bell.
No stockbroker will cold call for investments.

He has signed a form agreeing to a contract to pay £4000, being promised that within a few months he will receive £40,000.

There is the scam.  Its called advance fee fraud.  If you ever watched an episode of BBC's Hustle, you will know what they do.  They find the mark, play to their greed and because they have ££££ in their eyes, they are more gullible.   Pay £4000 and get £40,000 back but the £40k won't be there and they have lost the £4k.

Although he was asked not to tell anyone, he did tell us, and he himself is concerned.

Another alarm bell.   They don't want friends and families to point out it is a scam.

 But he believes that because he has signed some form of contract he will be forced to pay. 

Nope.   A contract does not enable a scammer.  The only way a scammer could enforce the contract is to take him to court.  A scammer isn't going to want to go anywhere near a court.

The woman phones every evening and says he has signed an agreement, and he must follow through.

And this is why they got the "contract" signed.  She can huff and puff and try to scare the person into paying.

Can anyone please advise?

Its a scam.   Block the telephone number on their phone and educate them how to spot simple scams and the first rule of using a telephone.  Never buy something from a cold call.

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/protect-yourself-scams

MeteredOut

If you want some fun, play along, tell them scammer that the £4K has been transferred. Mock up face "transfer confirmation" emails from the bank and send them on.

heatherw_01

No legitimate company would ever say "don't tell anyone", nor would they promise returns like that.

CliveOfIndia

[Deleted User] said:

I have a relative who I am convinced is being scammed.

Your conviction is 100% correct.  This has every hallmark known to mankind of being a scam, there's not a shred of doubt about it.

[Deleted User] said:

But he believes that because he has signed some form of contract he will be forced to pay

That signature isn't worth tuppence.

As others have said, he needs to block the phone number and have nothing more to do with the nice lady.  Although, I do know these scammers can be pretty adept at spoofing phone numbers, so blocking a particular number might not actually be much help.

The biggest problem you've got right now is to convince him that it is indeed a scam, that nothing bad will happen, and that he must just totally ignore any further communications that may come through.

Easier said than done if someone is in a vulnerable position.  I don't in any way intend that to be derogatory towards your relative, but if they have fallen for the initial set-up and are now worried about potential repercussions, you do need to help them out.  These scammers can be nastily persuasive, you might have a job on your hands to convince him to believe you rather than the scammer.

Mr.Generous

Hey sounds legit, where do I sign up?

£40k for a £4k investment? How could that possibly be a scam??

And despite these returns they really need his £4k, for some reason every other investor is avoiding this sure thing winner. How strange.

Albermarle

He has signed a form agreeing to a contract to pay £4000, being promised that within a few months he will receive £40,000.

The saying is ' that if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is'

I would say a ten fold increase for doing nothing fits into that category.

libra10

Thanks very much for everyone's replies.

Just as I thought, and have been trying to convince him.

I wouldn't have considered him to be particularly vulnerable, but feel that he has been pressured into this scam.  

There is information regarding potential scams on Centrica's website, also other institutions, but unfortunately he feels that he has to go through with sending the money, as he is being phoned again later and he would have broken the contract.

Have forwarded a copy of this thread to him, and hoping he will realise that he hasn't signed an enforcable contract.

Thanks very much