Acting in your best interests
A client of Ellis Bates rang their Adviser after looking online for an interest rate for a savings account. One of the websites they visited had promoted an interest rate of 5%, which the Adviser suspected was too good to be true. The Adviser looked at the website, www.mymoneymarket.co.uk, but there was only limited information available, so they submitted their own details to enquire further. The client had also previously filled in their information and received a phone call from a friendly and helpful individual, so there was no reason to think this was fraudulent in any way.
The email that the company sent through to the Adviser claimed that they were from Credit Suisse, a global wealth manager. The Adviser had suspicions that the email address, which ended with @europe.com looked untoward because it wasn’t displaying the usual company email address of @credit-suisse.com.
The Second Red Flag
The second red flag was that the email claimed to offer a fixed rate return, but in reality, the value and return would fluctuate in line with the value of the underlying shares so it is not possible to predict or guarantee what the return will be. The client was advised not to proceed with anything until the Adviser had contacted Credit Suisse directly. Credit Suisse confirmed the email was fraudulent, which was immediately relayed to the client. The website “my money market” has since been taken down.
Although not a direct Covid-19 scam, more than 5m people in the UK have fallen victim to a financial scam since the Covid-19 pandemic began, or know someone who has [1] so please remember to stay vigilant at all times.