I also urge everyone to be on their guard. And if you think you are too savvy to be tricked, think again. Even the most clued-up professional can fall prey to a sickening scam.
I presented a BBC Radio 4 programme a couple of years ago where I interviewed a number of different people who had become scam victims.
One of the most memorable was a solicitor. She had been caught out by a phone call late on Friday night when she was shutting the office that purported to be from NatWest.
The caller claimed that the law practice’s bank account had been attacked by fraudsters and she needed to take urgent action to protect her client’s cash.
The thought of that responsibility panicked her into following the advice on the call – as well as some sophisticated trickery that showed the account had been blocked when she tried to access it online.
She stupidly transferred the cash held on behalf of clients – some £800,000 – into a ‘safe’ account, from where it was quickly spirited away by the conniving crooks.
The net result was she was struck off, lost her livelihood and her life was ruined.
That should be a salutary lesson for all of you. None of us are above being caught out by clever crooks.
And that is especially notable now that they are targeting financial advisers.
They have been sending genuine-looking emails that purport to be due diligence requests from the Financial Conduct Authority.
As Financial Adviser reported recently, the fake email read: “We require you to review and answer the relevant questions in the attached questionnaire.”
Information is power to crooks and the data gathered from that email could well be used to trick clients out of cash, or attack advisers.
Hopefully all financial advisers were diligent enough to spot the scam, but it is a stark warning.
Be informed about all scams and be alive to their dangers. Protect yourselves and protect your clients.
Simon Read is a freelance journalist
