Consider investment fraud victims

Victims of unregulated investment schemes and other financial frauds are frequently overlooked

It is somewhat common knowledge that white-collar criminals regularly dupe innocent investors into handing over their hard-earned cash. During the fallout of such cases, we often, understandably, hear about the perpetrators and their misdemeanours. White-collar criminals become famous. But rarely is a voice is given to victims of unregulated investment fraud and similar crimes. Remember…

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BBC expose unregulated investment scam

The BBC has shone a light on a huge investment scheme failure this week in Panorama: The Billion Pound Savings Scandal. The show centres on the failure of unregulated investment scheme Blackmore Bond, which collapsed owing investors over £40m. As per many of these situations, prospective investors were: Nevertheless, the scheme collapsed in April 2020…

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Beware of the mini-bond market

Mini-bonds are unregulated by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

A mini-bond is a niche type of unregulated investment that you don’t hear about too often. But here at I&L, we like to discuss topics that will help to protect and educate our clients. As a result, mini-bonds is the focus of this post. So what exactly is a mini-bond? Mini-bonds are a form of…

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Police and financers warn of online bank fraud

Lobby group UK Finance note a record increase in the amount of money UK customers lost to online bank fraud in 2021

Bank customers lost a record £1.3 billion to online bank fraud last year, according to lobby group UK Finance. In 2021, investment fraud accounted for nearly one third of losses, with the promise of high returns enticing potential victims. UK Finance’s Annual Fraud Report notes that scammers are aware that pension freedoms have given over-55s…

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FCA and FSCS: “Investors should do more due diligence”

FCA and FSCS say investors must conduct more research to protect themselves against online scams

A survey by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that many investors avoid doing due diligence because they found the process “complicated” and “time consuming.” According to the results of the study, 42% of Britons aged 18 to 24, who have money in investments, claim their latest investment was…

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Beware the professional enabler

Professional enablers facilitate economic crime and crime systems

A lawyer, finance expert, or some other professional who acts as an enabler of an economic crime is referred to as a professional enabler. These are the people who will create, ignore, fail to identify, and purposely facilitate an economic crime or criminal system. In most cases, we only see the ‘face’ of the crime.…

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