We would like to alert you that Brown Shipley has been informed of attempted frauds being perpetrated using the Brown Shipley name, relating to the opening of high interest deposit accounts. The fraudulent activity links to a brownshipleyam.com domain with an associated email address of advisor@brownshipleyam.com.
This domain and the associated email address have not been registered by Brown Shipley, are not legitimate and are linked to fraudulent activity. Brown Shipley is taking necessary steps to have the domain and associated email deactivated. It is possible that fraudsters may attempt to contact you using this domain, so we ask that you remain vigilant. Other domains that may be being used illegitimately include brownshipleygroup.com or brownsshipley.co.uk.
Brown Shipley’s genuine email and website addresses are detailed below for your reference:
For further support, take a look at our ‘How to protect yourself from fraud’ guide, which provides examples of fraudulent activity and useful tips on how to keep safe. We would encourage you to familiarise yourself with this guide.
If you suspect that you have become a victim of fraud or attemped fraud, please contact your usual Brown Shipley Client Advisor.
Further information
If you would like to find out more information about how to protect yourself against fraud, do take a look at the following websites which offer straight-forward and impartial advice to help protect you against financial fraud:
BANK GUARANTEE FRAUD AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
Overview
Fraudsters use a fake bank guarantee to create the illusion that safety is in place. This will persuade you to make the deal thinking the risk is covered.
A fake bank guarantee usually is produced by fraudsters that are not related to the bank. The fraudsters often use sample letter heads of the bank published on the internet. Nevertheless, fake bank guarantees can also be produced by fraudulent staff members of the bank who are not entitled to issue the guarantees. These fake bank guarantees often cannot be detected as fake by their appearance.
What is a bank guarantee?
A bank guarantee is a guarantee given by the bank to cover a payment obligation of another person to a contract partner, creditor or investor of the other person.
To put it simply, a bank guarantee is a way to ensure promises are kept and payments are made in various situations. Examples are building projects, buying, and selling across borders, borrowing money, supposedly safe investments, and lots of other situations where a safety net is needed to ensure things will go smoothly.
Avoiding the scam
To avoid scams, you should always verify bank guarantees because of their complexity. You can verify bank guarantees via your own bank. They have specialists who can help you determine if the deal is legitimate or not. So, contact your own bank and ask for advice.
Beware of opportunities that sound too good to be true:
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Risk free investment opportunities with high yields.
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Offers exceeding market prices or other offers you receive by far.
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Offers that are only valid for a short time.
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Unusual upfront fees, e.g. for financial services.
And conduct your own research. What can you find about the person submitting you the supposed bank guarantee? Check for reviews, references, and licenses to operate.
Check whether the signatories even exist and whether they are authorised to issue a bank guarantee. For this purpose, you can contact the issuing bank, but at a telephone number or e-mail address that you do not obtain from existing correspondence, but from a neutral source of information (e.g. Internet, address files).
Finally, stay informed about common scams to recognise red flags and protect you and your company from fraud.
AUTHORISED PUSH PAYMENT SCAMS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
From 7 October 2024, new UK-wide banking regulation comes into effect from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). This will change the way authorised push payment (APP) scams are dealt with.
An authorised push payment scam happens when you discover that the person you are paying isn’t who you thought they were, or the payment is for a different reason than expected.
Payments covered are UK payments made via CHAPs or Faster Payment from the 7th of October; overseas payments and payments made via card or cheque are not covered.
Claims must also be made within 13 months of the payment date, so please contact us as soon as you suspect you may have been a victim of a fraud.
If your claim is valid, then your money should be refunded within 5 business days, subject to a maximum of £85,000. There is also a £100 excess which can be applied.
If we require additional time to gather information on the payment, then in some cases a refund may take up to 35 business days.
We may need to ask you for additional information on the payment made and could also ask you to report the scam to the Police, through Action Fraud.
Our “How to Protect Yourself from Fraud” guide carries some helpful tips in how to avoid frauds and scams.
Non-Independent Research
The information contained in this article is defined as non-independent research because it has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research, including any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of this information.
How to Use this Information
This article contains general information only and is not intended to constitute financial or other professional advice or a recommendation that any recipient of this information should make any particular investment decision. Always consult a suitably qualified financial advisor on any specific financial matter or problem that you have.
Except insofar as liability under any statute cannot be excluded, neither Brown Shipley nor any employee or associate of them accepts any liability (whether arising in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise) for any error or omission in this article or for any resulting loss or damage whether direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise suffered by the recipient of this article.
Investment Risk
Investing in stocks either directly or indirectly carries investment risk. The value of equity based investments may go down as well as up over time due to factors such as, market volatility, interest rates, and general economic conditions.
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