ProSearch Scam

kingtrigger · 25 July 2010 at 8:59PM

BT shares & ProSearch : I moved house & failed to notify BT. Some 4 years later I recieved a letter with a BT letterhead saying that ProSearch had been instructed to advise me of £200 of unclaimed dividends & that to claim these I need simply fill out the form and return the share certificates.
I did so and almost 2 months later recieved a new share certificate for 18 shares less (from 811 to 793 ?) the following day a letter and cheque arrives for .16 pence ! from Prosearch advising me of £168.89 admin fees, 22.38 indemnity fee & £33.48 vat ......this seems outrageous. I feel tricked & cheated and would welcome any advise as to what steps I should take. the small print on ProSearches initial letter advises of a 12% fee but I have paid 99% and lost 18 shares ??!!
The shares were a wedding gift some years ago....I'm a chef and don't cook books for a living ..help me out here please

Browntoa · 25 July 2010 at 9:52PM

looks like prosearch make there money by doing this and have no links with the BT share registrars Equiniti

http://boards.thisismoney.co.uk/tim/...t=2&msRange=15

about o2 shares but same scam

Thank you to both of you who replied to my request for help. I phoned Equiniti on 0871 384 2883, and was advised to send my share certificates directly to them, with a covering letter. They did tell me that ProSearch were not in any way affiliated to them, and did searches for people who had not cashed in their shares, and charged a premium for arranging the cashing for them. I was alarmed by the 25p per share premium, which would have meant about £300 going to them and coming off my shares value. I am very grateful to you two, and to Equiniti for the sound advice.

colin217 · 6 January 2011 at 3:42PM

I am a victim of this `scam` - when speaking to equinity they told me hundreds of people have complained about it.

My dividend were due to be £304 and they charge 12.5% - but the 12.5 is of the whole share holding, not of the divident amount.

...so I end up with a cheque for £60 - I`m very p1ssed off!!

I know I should have read the T&Cs - as its all in that! they were very clear (abrupt) about it.

I`m going to write them a letter and compain - but cant see me getting this money back - any tips anyone? Is this soemthig I can get trading standards or a solicester involved in - is it worth it?

Cheers

Colin

Geordieray · 4 February 2011 at 3:50PM

i too have had this , i got a letter saying they had a chegue for the £814 and share number 255, saying 12 half % and of total number of shares not stating amount, then i got a chegue for £111, on phone they said i knew what i was signing and they were value for money i said why did,t u ask me to ring my share company direct to send chegue they said i never asked , i have the guys name from pro search a
John Evans
Team Manager - Investor Communications
Asset Reunification, ProSearch
Telephone: +44(0)1732 741411 Direct Line: +44 (0)1732 748151 Fax: +44(0)1732 741917
Email: [EMAIL="john.evans@prosearchassets.com"]john.evans@prosearchassets.com[/EMAIL]
Caxton House, 22 St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3NP

this is what they said on letter to me

Thank you for your letter dated 25 January and also to your call to our offices of the same date to express your dissatisfaction with the Asset Reunification service provided by ProSearch. We were very sorry to learn that you had not fully appreciated the process and fee structure. I also acknowledge receipt enclosed with your letter of a copy of an IHG shares certificate dated 15 April 2003 for 535 ordinary shares of £1.00 each.

Your claim was processed on the basis that we would recover both the uncashed dividends and the 255 Intercontinental Hotels Group plc ordinary shares and the administration fee would be based on the full value of these (see computation below for total value of assets recovered), in accordance with the terms of our service. In addition, a lost certificate indemnity fee was charged in respect of your IHG plc share certificate which was deemed to be missing in accordance with the conditions set out in Section 2 of the Claim Form.

For ease of reference, we attach a copy of your claim form on which we have highlighted the relevant sections relating to the charging structure and the potential requirement to sell a small number of shares to cover any fee shortfall. We have also set out in full below the computation of the fee and the resulting balance cheque.

I attach a copy of the claim form which you completed on which I have highlighted the sections which relate to the deduction of charges. In accordance with the way you completed Part 3 of the Claim Form, your claim was processed on that basis that we recovered 255 ordinary shares together with the cash entitlement of £814.44. Accordingly, the fee was levied on both cash and share value elements.

I have compiled the charging details into a matrix as follows:

The above noted matrix gives a breakdown relating to the charging structure, if a valid IHG plc share certificated dated 04 June 2007 or later is NOT returned. As part of our service you will have recently received direct from the Registrars a new certificate for 255 ordinary shares which are currently valued at £3353.00 (approximately).

The following matrix reconciles the position:

Total Dividends Recovered

£ 814.44

LESS: Total Fee

-£ 702.81

Balancing Cheque

£ 111.63

The certificate you returned to us (as described above) is regrettably an old invalid certificate.
However, if you were in fact holding a valid IHG plc certificate(s) prior to your participation in the Asset Reunification programme, then you have received a part of the service that you did not in fact require and you should rightly be due a refund in respect the charges levied against the share recovery.
Whilst I can totally sympathise with what you might perceive as a lack of logic in respect to the maintenance of your investment, it is a fact that it remained dormant /unclaimed and registered to a previous address until our involvement and may never have come to light were it not for our intervention.

From the correspondence that you received from us, we have been completely transparent in relation to the purpose for our contact and further, the fees payable in relation to the voluntary service provided by ProSearch were clearly cited in the documentation that you received.

I am happy to discuss any thoughts you may have in relation to this matter, but in that you chose to utilise the service, we feel that our fee is justified and given that we have effected the repatriation of entitlements that may never have come to light, I feel that we have provided a valuable and worthwhile service.

Yours sincerely
PROSEARCH ASSET SOLUTIONS LIMITED

JOHN EVANS
Team Manager – Investor Communications
E: John.evans@prosearchassets.com
enc

As you can see it has been a leter to misled you , if they had put this information first to me then i would of went to my share company direct , its a con and the goverment FSA are letting this financial crooks away with this scam and they say it is legal as buying a bottle of milk, the funny thing is i have paid for nothing except £702 to have a chegue sent to me. I would love to have more advice sent to me either on here or to [EMAIL="ramarb@blueyonder.co.uk"]ramarb@blueyonder.co.uk[/EMAIL]

maemaesmummy · 4 February 2011 at 4:05PM

Weirdly we had 2 letters from these people relating to some share holdings that my DH's deceased father had...he died in 1995 and we knew nothing about them...

The letters said we had 7 days to reply or the offer was null and void..we started filling in the forms..however sensible head said stop and a quick google brought up lots of issues.

We phoned Equiniti and we are dealing with the matters ourselves without their ridiculous charges...but we came so close to returning the docs to them. I dread to think what amount we would have received.

Good Luck!

Freddie_Snowbits · 4 February 2011 at 5:20PM

I keep my money in the matrass. It is quite easy to manage, defendable at night and when I move house, my bed goes with me.

gordikin · 4 February 2011 at 5:26PM

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

I keep my money in the matrass. It is quite easy to manage, defendable at night and when I move house, my bed goes with me.

Freddie has spoken.

calleyw · 5 February 2011 at 7:34PM

colin217 wrote: »

I am a victim of this `scam` - when speaking to equinity they told me hundreds of people have complained about it.

Why is it a scam?

You choose to send back the form and pay the fees rather than do the leg work yourself.

It only takes a couple of phone calls.

Pro search have costs in tracking you down and that is what you are paying for.

My husband has had a stroke and mass of dead tissue in his brain the size of a tennis ball. And even he managed to make a couple of calls to sort it out for himself.

A fool and his money are easily parted.

Yours

Calley

Oopsadaisy · 11 February 2011 at 10:29AM

calleyw wrote: »

Why is it a scam?

You choose to send back the form and pay the fees rather than do the leg work yourself.

It only takes a couple of phone calls.

Pro search have costs in tracking you down and that is what you are paying for.

My husband has had a stroke and mass of dead tissue in his brain the size of a tennis ball. And even he managed to make a couple of calls to sort it out for himself.

A fool and his money are easily parted.

Yours

Calley

A smartar5e and their mouth soon runneth away.

The issue people have is the nature of the charges are well hidden in the small print.

The firm knows that people struggle with it but refuses to make their charging structure any clearer; in fact some people would say it's deliberately fuzzy, so as to mislead.

In addition people object to the implication that they are aligned with the organisation in question [O2, BT etc].

PZH · 11 February 2011 at 10:55AM

kingtrigger wrote: »

I moved house & failed to notify BT.

colin217 wrote: »

I know I should have read the T&Cs - as its all in that! they were very clear (abrupt) about it.

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

The issue people have is the nature of the charges are well hidden in the small print.

The firm knows that people struggle with it but refuses to make their charging structure any clearer; in fact some people would say it's deliberately fuzzy, so as to mislead.

This is common practice EVERYWHERE - people know to read the T&C's but fail to do so and then moan when they realise what they actually signed up for.

If you do not understand what you are reading - then surely that would ring alarm bells anyway - do some research BEFORE signing or seek expert advise.

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

In addition people object to the implication that they are aligned with the organisation in question [O2, BT etc].

This is more of an issue than the "Hidden" or "Fuzzy" T&C's

calleyw · 17 February 2011 at 8:58AM

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

their mouth soon runneth away.

Rather like the people who are whining and moaning about the charges then.

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

The issue people have is the nature of the charges are well hidden in the small print.

Wonder why it is called small print?

If you don't know what you are signing for guess what you don't sign up. Or you seek advice before you do.

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

The firm knows that people struggle with it but refuses to make their charging structure any clearer; in fact some people would say it's deliberately fuzzy, so as to mislead.

In addition people object to the implication that they are aligned with the organisation in question [O2, BT etc].

No it is about common sense.

Nobody does anything like that for free. I looked over the form to see what the catch is. As my spider sense was tingling.

Prosearch are a company and they need to make money. Seeing as people on this forum have access to the internet why did they not google prosearch. Which is what I did.

It does concern me that adults of normal intelligence are not able to sense when something is a scam. It is worrying.

But each to there own.

Yours

Calley

ProSearch Scam

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