FOS targeted by fraudsters

5 April 2011 9:58 am | By Natalie Holt

The Financial Ombudsman Service has warned that fraudsters are sending out letters and emails claiming to be from the ombudsman.

In a statement on its website posted last week, the FOS says: “We are aware that fraudulent letters and emails claiming to come from the FOS are currently in circulation.

“These spoof letters and emails sometimes contain copies of our logo or other images taken from our website or publications. They may ask you for money or for personal information such as your bank account details or copies of your payslips or passport.”

The FOS has warned people to check for signs that the correspondence may not be genuine, such as a mobile or overseas contact phone number, an unlikely looking email address such as a hotmail or gmail account, or a foreign PO Box number overtyped onto fake versions of the FOS website.

The ombudsman also advises people to never respond to a message that appears suspicious, never provide personal details or security information, and install anti-virus and firewall software.

To report a suspicious email or letter, please call the FOS on 0300 123 9 123.

Last month the Keydata Victims Group warned Lifemark investors not to give their bank details to bogus callers purporting to be from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FSCS first warned consumers to be on guard from fraudsters in February.

Investment firms including Artemis, Thames River Capital, Schroders, Rathbones, Octopus Investments, Royal London Asset Management and Fidelity have all been targeted by bogus callers in recent months.

Thameside director Tom Kean says: “This is a new age crime, and there are some sectors of society that just cannot spot these. People in the financial world who fall for this kind of thing should know better, but there are more vulnerable, believing members of society who are getting ripped off.”

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