DeVere warns of 'sophisticated' clone firms

The firm has revealed a new wave of complaints from people who suspect they have been contacted by con artists, including a clone firm pretending to be deVere.
 
Kevin White commented:

“For more than two years, we have been warning of the rise of so-called clone companies whose employees contact individuals and claim to be from fully authorised, regulated and licenced financial advisory firms such as DeVere.
 
“Typically, these scammers cold call investors to promote investments that are worthless, overpriced or perhaps even non-existent.
 
“Since the beginning of April, the number of calls we have received from clients concerned about clone scams has sky rocketed. And with depressing frequency, we’re now receiving calls from people after they have transferred funds to the suspected fraudsters.
 
“For instance, we recently dealt with an 80-year old who had ‘invested’ his savings with a clone firm that was pretending to be DeVere United Kingdom.

“Previously, the tactics employed by these criminals typically involved using almost identical trading names, websites, logos and business cards as those of genuine firms.
 
“Whilst these are still common methods used to dupe people, the boiler room con artists seem to be getting yet more sophisticated. Some of them, for example, are now even using fake FCA numbers that are similar to our registered one and adopting the similar or the same names as our genuine consultants when speaking to their potential victims.”

DeVere have noted a month-on-month increase of such calls of approximately 35%, from clients not only in the UK, but across Europe, the U.S. and the Gulf.

Earlier this year, DeVere Group’s founder and chief executive, Nigel Green, issued a public statement warning that “as the new freedoms and flexibilities come into effect in April, the scam artists are likely to increase their activities yet further as they will see it as ‘boom time’.”