The cloners are at it again, this time with the establishment of a website which shares many similarities including its name, with a former Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registered entity.
The bona fide company which the imposters are attempting to emulate in this instance is Bridgepoint Private Equity, which is no longer an FCA regulated firm but had been operating under its auspices from its London base legitimately.
As a result the FCA has released a warning, in order to ensure that potential investors do not fall foul of what has over the last few months become an increasingly prevalent confidence trick.
There is a well-worn British adage “as thick as thieves,” which in this case applies to their level of intelligence rather than their loyalty to one another, as the imposter’s website boasts that “Craig McQuade BPE is Britain’s leading financial products trading service provider.” A bold claim indeed.
However, the level of the company’s geographical knowledge was tested severely when it boasted of its regulatory oversight by “the UK Securities and Investment Commission supervision, one of the oldest financial transaction service providers. BPE is headquartered in the United Kingdom’s largest city – Sydney, is committed to carry out financial derivatives trading business.” In addition to this banal statement, the entire dialog contains a litany of typographical errors.
The FCA has become concerned about this method of attempting to part unsuspecting retail FX investors with their funds on false pretences, and has therefore highlighted that this particular trickster has also cloned the telephone numbers of the formerly registered firm, as well as its address in Wigmore Street, London W1, and has generated a series of similar email addresses and a website URL which bears similarity to the name of the firm that BPE is attempting to immitate.