Scammers Target New Investing Landscape

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It’s never been easier to invest thanks to the multitude of apps, online brokerages and crypto platforms that have sprung up in the new age of digital finance.

While this technology has enabled a whole generation of investors to make their money work harder for them, it has also created new opportunities for scammers to exploit.

From slick social media presentations and AI to seemingly legitimate and professional trading platforms, fraudsters are becoming ever more sophisticated and harder to detect.

Which is why would-be investors need to be more cautious than ever when exploring new opportunities and platforms, especially when it comes to due diligence checks.

Many investment scams today are designed to mimic real opportunities. These include sectors such as banking together with debit/credit cards, CFD and Forex trading, crypto and Binary Options.

When it comes to trading and investing, it’s incredibly easy to create a convincing website complete with professional tools and charts that make it appear as if your money is being actively invested.

For many people unfamiliar with how a legitimate financial platforms operate, it can be very difficult to spot these scam platforms.

Red flags to look out for

However, there are a few red flags that you can look out for before parting with your cash.

These include opportunities that promises unrealistically high returns or ‘guaranteed profits’, put pressure on you to act fast, and discourage you from seeking independent verification using claims such as the opportunity is ‘private’.

Other tactics used by scammers include social engineering, where they pose as legitimate financial professionals or even friends to hook you into an investment, or fake romantic interest over several months before pressuring you to invest into fraudulent investment scheme.

It’s important to look out for the signals, especially if you receive an unsolicited phone call, email or WhatsApp message.

The cold caller might give you a complicated or vague explanation of how the investment work and request an immediate up-front payment to unlock profits or even to withdraw your funds if you’ve already invested money into the scheme.

Follow this golden rule

One golden rule to follow is to always be sceptical of anyone who calls you out of the blue in relation to a financial opportunity as this is not standard practise for legitimate professionals or institutions.

Don’t be pressured into making a quick decision. Instead, take some time to properly research the person that’s called you and, if in doubt, seek professional advice before parting with any money.

If you do fall victim to a financial scam of any description there are certain steps you should follow.

These include documenting everything that’s happened and the transactions that have occurred, contacting your bank to alert them to what’s happened and breaking off contact with the scammer.

In many cases you may be able to get some of your money back depending on the exact circumstances of what’s happened. This often involves using a specialist solicitors to pursue your case, which we can help with.

No win, no fee help in recovering scammed funds

We work with a team of no win, no fee solicitors who can help with a wide range of financial scam cases, whether it be fake FX trading or binary options, crypto scams or other investment schemes. If you need assistance with this please get in touch.

While there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to get your funds back, many people do successfully recovery some of the money they’ve lost to a scam.

If it’s not possible to follow this path to recover your funds, we can advise on other methods, such as the tracing of stolen money or crypto, which may lead to a successful outcome.

Conclusion

Scammers can seem incredibly professional and use a multitude of manipulative techniques to ensnare people, with one of the main ones being the fear of missing out on an amazing investment opportunity which could reward the investor with a life-changing sum of money.

Remember to stay alert for the warning signs and, if in doubt, back off and pause to thoroughly investigate the opportunity to ensure you’re not being caught up in a sophisticated scam.