UK financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning regarding unlicensed clone loan firm Homeowner Loans/ Advantage Leads.
The FCA believes that:
Fraudsters are using the details of firms registered to carry out financial services activities to try to convince people that they work for a genuine, registered firm.”
The FCA warns:
Almost all firms and individuals carrying out financial services activities in the UK have to be registered or authorised by us. This firm is not registered by us but has been targeting people in the UK, purporting to be an authorised firm.
This is what we call a ‘clone firm’; and fraudsters usually use this tactic when contacting people out of the blue, so you should be especially wary if you have been cold called. They may use the name of the genuine firm, the firm’s address, or other details.”
To see the FCA warning click here.