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Warning: scammers are pretending to be the FSA

Simon Ward
by Lovemoney Staff Simon Ward on 27 June 2012  |  Comments 3 comments

The FSA says it has been told that scammers are impersonating its officials to try and con people.

Warning: scammers are pretending to be the FSA

Financial industry regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned people to watch out for scammers pretending to represent them.

The FSA is currently sending out warning letters and emails to over 75,000 people, warning them they are on a so-called ‘sucker’s list’ of potential investment scam targets.

However, scammers are now phoning people pretending to be part of this FSA campaign – known as Operation Bexley – in a bid to access their financial information.

The FSA says it will never call you to ask for your banking or financial details when it is investigating something on your behalf.

Operation Bexley has been set up to alert people on the sucker’s list that scammers may try to con them into buying plots of land (known as landbanking) or worthless or non-existent shares.

You can read more about the most common investment scams in this FSA leaflet and in our regular Scams blog.

If you are approached by someone with an investment opportunity that sounds too good to be true, you can call the FSA Operation Bexley hotline on 0845 155 6355. Don't hand over any money or your banking details.

More on scams

Scams blog

The scams that target the elderly

How to protect your PINs and passwords

Watch out for these HMRC tax refund scams

Sneakiest phone scams

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Comments (3)

  • eLJay
    Love rating 76
    eLJay said

    From what a friend at the SFO tells me there are people dumb enough to be scammed again by the same scammers while they are trying to build a law case against them for the victim. I mean, how stupid can you get?

    Report on 27 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • maddogmack
    Love rating 3
    maddogmack said

    I always ask these people how they can live with themselves, knowing that they are crooks stealing off the vulnerable. They usually hang up pretty quickly after that!

    Report on 27 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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