Posts

HSBC customers looking to grab a bargain on Black Friday had a nasty shock when they learned that they were locked out of their bank accounts. The HSBC mobile banking system went down last Friday, at the height of the Black Friday sales. It was unfortunate timing for shoppers, who needed to use their online banking apps to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. It is also bad timing, as MP’s announce they are investigating banks and the numerous IT failures reported this year.

Last month, HSBC online banking went down, leaving customers locked out of their bank accounts. … Read more

If like the many timeshare owners, you have become tired of your burdensome timeshare, or simply can’t continue to pay the mounting maintenance fees, you have probably thought about selling it. After all, you were told that when you no longer wanted to keep it you could sell it on and make a profit.

But before you enter into the murky waters of timeshare re-sales there are some important things to be aware of. Just as there are rouge sales reps and scammers when buying a timeshare, the same is true when trying to sell one.

If you own … Read more

Two company directors from Nottingham have been found guilty of fraudulent trading after a 10-day trial. The firm cold-called businesses all over the UK, including takeaway restaurants, nail bars, hair salons and other small businesses, offering to reduce their business rates. The firm charged customers either £399 or £499 for simply filling in application forms. On their website, they boasted that they were the leading specialist in business rates, something that they could not justify when asked in court.

The small businesses targeted were then pressed for payment, even though rate cuts had not been achieved by the company. … Read more

A real estate company in the US is warning consumers and real estate brokers about a spurt of recent timeshare scams. The scammers are cold-calling timeshare owners claiming to be from a legitimate real estate agency and offering timeshare sales and exit services for timeshares owners.

The scammers have been falsely representing themselves as home sales agents working for a legitimate firm, even going as far as to use their real estate license number and address.

The scammer will then offer to sell the victims timeshare, explaining how they have many clients ready to purchase timeshares at a reasonable price. … Read more

£21 Million Lost To Computer Software Service Fraud
Action Fraud have launched a new campaign to warn people about Computer Software service Fraud. It is one of the UK’s top five most reported types of fraud. In 2017/18, over 22,000 people have reported being scammed and the total loss combined is £21 Million.

Action Fraud received 22,609 reports from members of the public, concerning Computer Software Service Fraud and a total of £21,365,360 being stolen by scammers. Action Fraud report the average age of a victim is 63 and people living in London and Bristol are most likely … Read more

Solar Panels, The New Nightmare For Barclays !

Barclays may have to pay a £38.5 million bill to homeowners over loans taken out to fund solar panels which may have been mis-sold. Barclays Partner Finance is a subsidiary of the bank and has said it will put aside a fixed amount to settle customer claims for compensation. They have also employed the services of solicitors to review its liabilities in relation to the case.

It was revealed in May that solar sales agents had misled homeowners into signing up to loan agreements for solar panels. After a surge in complaints … Read more

A new report states that £500 Million has been stolen from customers of British banks in the first half of 2018 alone.

Industry group UK Finance says £145 Million of the stolen amount was due to APP scams, or Authorised Push Payments. APP crime is the fastest growing type of crime and these new figures show a sharp increase in the amount stolen from 2017. In short, APP fraud is where a victim believes they are paying for a legitimate service or item and the criminal poses as a trusted third party and redirects the payment to a different account.… Read more

A new report states that £500 Million has been stolen from customers of British banks in the first half of 2018 alone.

Industry group UK Finance says £145 Million of the stolen amount was due to APP scams, or Authorised Push Payments. APP crime is the fastest growing type of crime and these new figures show a sharp increase in the amount stolen from 2017. In short, APP fraud is where a victim believes they are paying for a legitimate service or item and the criminal poses as a trusted third party and redirects the payment to a different account.… Read more

The Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator have issued a statement, to warn the public to be vigilant when receiving cold-calls, regarding pension investments.

 

The warning comes after 253 victims contacted Action Fraud to report pension investment fraud. This resulted in more than £23 million lost to pension scammers in 2017 alone. The average loss equates to £91,000 per victim.

Needless to say, these are highly sophisticated scammers, who convince people into transferring their pensions into fraudulent schemes. Victims can lose their life savings and hard earned money, which could leave them facing a retirement future they … Read more

A man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison, after he was found guilty of conspiring to con dozens of investors out of millions of pounds. Michael Nascimento, ran a call centre where investors were offered shares in fraudulent companies. But instead, the court heard, how he spent some of the proceeds of his crimes on private school tuition, Arsenal season tickets and expensive trips.

For four years, Nascimento ran a ‘Boiler Room’, another name for a high pressure call centre, where investors, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, buy shares in companies with plausible sounding names. … Read more