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Five Jailed For £2.8 Million Boiler Room Scam

Five men have been jailed for a total of nearly 18 years, following a criminal prosecution by the Financial Conduct Authority. They have been found guilty of scamming more than 170 victims out of £2.8 million, in a complex boiler room scam.

The judge said “Some victims lost everything they had” and “their stories were at times positively heart-breaking.” He added that elderly people had been specifically targeted.

The men worked in a boiler room, where they cold called victims and using high pressure sales tactics, sold ineffective and overpriced investments to the public. The name boiler room refers to … Read more

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A Conman Stole My Parent’s Home!!

Imagine your loved ones were scammed out of everything they had worked their whole lives for

That’s exactly what happened to one family whose elderly parents were conned by someone they trusted. Syed Bukhari pretended to be ‘Gerry’ from the bank and went on to steal more than £350,000 of their lifesavings including their home.

Bukhari, 37, befriended the ex-merchant navy officer and his wife of 40 years by at first running errands for the pair. Both of the elderly couple suffered from dementia, however, despite this, they were enjoying their retirement and leading somewhat independent lives. They were first … Read more

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Couple Lose £272,000 as holiday home dream collapses !

Police have been called in to investigate after a couple from Bristol lose a holiday home and £272,000 in life savings, after the collapse of a £10 million foreign exchange firm. Civil servants, Bryn and Trish Pailing were fortunate enough to retire early and were about to complete the purchase of a dream home on Portugal’s Algarve coast.

It all began when the couple attended a ‘Place In The Sun’ exhibition in 2015 and met with Premier FX, who were sponsoring a Portuguese stand. They spoke with company representatives, who explained they acted as a foreign exchange company, that … Read more

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First Ever GDPR notice served to Facebook !

GDPR made its highly foreseen debut back in May of this year and, until recently, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), who are in charge of enforcing the new regulations, had yet to issue any fines.

There had been a lot of speculation as to when the first fine would be issued and to whom, and now Facebook has been issued with the maximum fine of £500,000 under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. Under the terms of the legislation, companies must report data breaches to regulators within 72 hours and failures to adequately protect information can result in … Read more

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Cold-Calling Conman Jailed For 13 Years.

A man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison, after he was found guilty of conspiring to con dozens of investors out of millions of pounds. Michael Nascimento, ran a call centre where investors were offered shares in fraudulent companies. But instead, the court heard, how he spent some of the proceeds of his crimes on private school tuition, Arsenal season tickets and expensive trips.

For four years, Nascimento ran a ‘Boiler Room’, another name for a high pressure call centre, where investors, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, buy shares in companies with credible sounding names. … Read more

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Financial Ombudsman Service Tells Banks To ‘Stop Blaming Victims’ !

In their latest newsletter, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has warned banks to treat victims of financial fraud more fairly, instead of assuming the victim was grossly negligent and to blame.

FOS see thousands of complaints from customers, who have had money stolen from their accounts, and assesses cases where the bank and customer both say they are not responsible for the loss.

Often victims have had their life savings stolen in sophisticated scams and to make matters worse, the banks often refuse to reimburse their customers when this happens. As state-of-art scams become more prevalent and more convincing, the … Read more

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Conmen Caught And Jailed !

Charity conman Jailed.

A lorry driver who pocketed money he raised for the young son of murdered soldier, Lee Rigby, has been jailed for two and a half years. The court heard haw Gary Gardner, raised about £24,000 but only £4,000 made its way to any charity.

Gardner put on three truck-pull events, and thousands of people attended, including Lee Rigby’s widow and son. He was convicted of two counts of fraud.

The court heard how Gardner, a lorry driver, staged events in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the Leicestershire village. He also spent £5,000 on producing and promoting … Read more

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Latest Finance and Business News

Government saves £300m in two years by preventing fraud and error.

The government’s national Fraud Initiative (NFI) has saved over £300 million in taxpayers money, in a two year period. Chloe Smith, Minister for the Constitution, has announced over £300 million in savings, made from immobilization down on fraud and error. “We are determined to build a fairer society and stopping a small group of unscrupulous people, who break the law, will help us achieve this”.

Over the last two years, NFI has saved over £300 million in taxpayers money, the equivalent of the annual salary for 7,843 full time … Read more

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Scams We Should All Be On The Lookout For

Here are just some of the scams we should be on the lookout for.

Police are warning people over doorstep scammers who pose as ex-offenders. The scam involves people posing as previous offenders. going door to door selling items and Greater Manchester Police force are so concerned they have issued a warning. Bogus sellers are posing as reformed criminals and targeting homes in and around Greater Manchester.

Scammers have been visiting homes and telling residents that they are working as part of a probation service scheme, officers say there is no such scheme and have warned residents not to answer … Read more

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Teletext owes customers more than £7 million in refunds

In a press release on the UK governments website, it claims teletext will face legal action if it does not pay back over £7 million to customers whose package holidays were cancelled due to the pandemic.

The Competition and Markets Authority, which is government run, opened an investigation back in February after receiving hundreds of complaints from Teletext customers. Because of the pandemic and the Limitations on travel, most of us that booked a holiday, missed out but under UK law if this happens, people should receive a full refund within 14 days. But the investigation showed customers were not … Read more

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