Investment scam, …elderly parent

zenshi

Had phone call the other night from my 85 year old father talking excitedly about a scheme that was endorsed by Martin Lewis, except it isn’t! Presumably an AI bot but anyway he got taken in 😓 And yes, it was advert on Facebook …….. Me and bro have told him time and again about not clicking links etc but he ‘knows best’

After getting some details from him and digging around the net, I’m pretty sure it’s a scam, then find even FCA have warned it’s a scam. He’s promised not to ‘invest’ any more!

I think his moneys gone, although he’s sure it isn’t 🙄, is there anything I can do to about it? Prob not!

ColdIron

That would depend upon the nature of the scam, let alone details, of which you have said nothing

So, who knows whether you can do anything about it?

zenshi

sorry, my brains frazzled. I don’t do stock market. Company’s called Finsera, appears to be stocks and shares. Apparently, he ‘made’ over £100 overnight. 

ColdIron

One word, Finsera, hardly narrows it down. You say the FCA have a warning, did you just type in one word or more details than you have given here. Even if it was legitimate it could be a clone pretending to be them. Do you have a url? An email address? Anything more

How did your father pay? Debit card, credit card, Paypal, bank transfer etc

You won't get far by drip dripping details

arfster

Martin Lewis actually sued facebook in 2018 over this exact same scam:
Martin Lewis settles lawsuit as Facebook agrees to donate £3m to anti-scam charity and launch new scam ads reporting button


Perhaps this page on MSE might be useful, where it says these scams are nothing to do with him:
Martin Lewis scam adverts

ColdIron

arfster said:

Martin Lewis actually sued facebook in 2018 over this exact same scam:
Martin Lewis settles lawsuit as Facebook agrees to donate £3m to anti-scam charity and launch new scam ads reporting button

Why do you think it was the exact same scam? There are no details. MLS won a defamation suit against Facebook not a scammer so it's unlikely that this course of action is available to the OP

Aretnap

Finsera appears to be either a genuine Californian company which provides services to Financial Advisers (but not retail investors), or a website that was registered anonymously a couple of months ago and which has more red flags than a Jeremy Corbyn rally.

https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/finsera.org

I'm assuming it's the second one that your dad "invested" with? In which case I'm afraid the money's likely gone, and the important thing now is to make sure he doesn't hand over any more. They will surely tell him now that he will need to pay more money before he can unlock his "winnings", which do not actually exist.

(I say likely gone, there may be some recourse through his bank if he paid by bank transfer or credit card).

Aretnap

ColdIron said:

arfster said:

Martin Lewis actually sued facebook in 2018 over this exact same scam:
Martin Lewis settles lawsuit as Facebook agrees to donate £3m to anti-scam charity and launch new scam ads reporting button

Why do you think it was the exact same scam? There are no details. MLS won a defamation suit against Facebook not a scammer so it's unlikely that this course of action is available to the OP

I think the point was that the OP showing his dad Martin Lewis saying "I don't do adverts, anyone using my name to sell investment products is lying to you" might help persuade dad to understand that he is indeed being lied to.

zenshi

I’m not deliberately dripping details, just don’t know much, I’m sorry. I’ve seen the ad on FB but can’t seem to add pics on here. Advert claims it’s Bank of England approved, can only sign up using the ad, no other way! Claims you can earn up to £30k monthly. He paid with his bank card. After he signed up, they rang him to walk him through the process

The only detail he has about who they are is a website,

webtrader.Finsera.me

zenshi

Aretnap said:

ColdIron said:

arfster said:

Martin Lewis actually sued facebook in 2018 over this exact same scam:
Martin Lewis settles lawsuit as Facebook agrees to donate £3m to anti-scam charity and launch new scam ads reporting button

Why do you think it was the exact same scam? There are no details. MLS won a defamation suit against Facebook not a scammer so it's unlikely that this course of action is available to the OP

I think the point was that the OP showing his dad Martin Lewis saying "I don't do adverts, anyone using my name to sell investment products is lying to you" might help persuade dad to understand that he is indeed being lied to.

Yes, I have told him that. I’m pretty sure his moneys gone. It’s now about protecting him going forward and to report it if I can

ColdIron

zenshi said:

He paid with his bank card. After he signed up, they rang him to walk him through the process

It's a shame it was debit card. If it was a bank transfer he could have been protected with the APP fraud reimbursement policies. Debit cards have fewer protections and it appears he authorised the payment which is the first thing the bank will pick up on