South Yorkshire Police issues warning over costly scam as victims report losses of £800,000

A warning has been issued by South Yorkshire Police about a scam which has already cost victims £800,000.
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The force said fraudsters are running 'clone firm' investment scams, where criminals imitate legitimate investment companies by cloning their websites, emails and telephone numbers to trick people into believing they are investing with a genuine company.

Reports of the scam have risen by 30 per cent nationally.

South Yorkshire Police is supporting a campaign being run by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) and City of London Police - the national lead force for economic crime - to raise awareness.

South Yorkshire Police has issued a warning about a scam which has seen local people lose £800,000South Yorkshire Police has issued a warning about a scam which has seen local people lose £800,000
South Yorkshire Police has issued a warning about a scam which has seen local people lose £800,000
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According to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud, there were 249 reports of investment fraud in South Yorkshire between December 2019 and December 2020, with total losses of £4 million.

South Yorkshire clone firm scam victims lost £814,415 last year.

Fraud Protect Officer, Andy Foster, said: “As I say to all victims of fraud, these criminals are professionals and can be extremely convincing. There is nothing to be ashamed about - and it's really important you report what has happened to you to prevent the same thing from happening to somebody else.”

With 'clone firm' investment scams, criminal gangs find victims in a number of ways, such as taking out adverts on social media platforms or search engines. Once a victim has registered an interest, they'll be contacted by fraudsters, who often obtain the name of a genuine employee in the company and have a similar email address with just very subtle differences.

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Victims end up transferring their savings directly to criminal gangs, under the false belief they are sending them to a legitimate investment firm.

Often, victims will not realise that they have been scammed until months later, when they fail to receive quarterly returns or investment reports.

Mr Foster added: “Clone firm investment scams can look very sophisticated and genuine, so it's important you check and double check every single detail to prevent yourself from becoming a victim. The losses can be huge and may have a life-changing impact if you fall for it, both financially and emotionally.”

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