ScamSmart

Raymond James is supporting the ScamSmart campaign from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which aims to educate investors to make smart decisions regarding their investments and pensions and avoid becoming the victims of scams.

Investment and pension scams are often sophisticated and difficult to spot. According to the FCA, thousands of people fall victim to investment fraud each year. In 2015/16, the average loss to investment fraud was over £32,000*.

Those who are most at risk tend to be those who are 55 or over and already own investments. How do I spot the warning signs? Fraudsters use different tactics, but most often will use the following: Contact you out of the blue Apply pressure to invest quickly Downplay the risks to your money Promise tempting returns that sound too good to be true Say that they’re only making the offer available to you or even ask you to not tell anyone else about it

How to avoid investment and pension scams and be a ScamSmart Investor

Reject unexpected offers
Scammers usually cold call, but contact can also come by email, post, word of mouth or at a seminar. If you’ve been offered an investment out of the blue, chances are it’s a high risk investment or a scam.

Check the FCA Warning List
Use the FCA Warning List to check the risks of a potential investment – you can also search to see if the firm is known to be operating without our authorisation. To check visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart

Get impartial advice
Get impartial advice before investing – don’t use an adviser from the firm that contacted you.

Click here to visit the FCA website for more information about this campaign, and to access the wealth of resources and information on how to spot and report a scam.

*figures provided by Action Fraud in October 2016