FSA: Thousands of Brits at risk of fraud scams

Thursday, May 20th 2010

Thousand of Britons could be at risk of a boiler room share fraud scam, the Financial Services Authority has warned.

The body has contacted over 38,000 people around the UK after their names and addresses were found on a master list believed to be used by criminals.

It is currently writing to the 38,242 individuals on the list and has offered advice to people in an effort to stop them from becoming victims of share fraud scams.

Among the steps the public can take are hanging up the phone if they receive unexpected phone calls in which they are offered to buy shares, as well as using details on the FSA's Register - which acts as a public record of firms that are approved to provide financial services - to verify their identity.

Commenting, head of unauthorised business at the FSA Jonathan Phelan warned the public that boiler roof fraudsters "often sound professional".

"Cold calling to sell shares is rarely allowed, so anybody who receives a call like this should be extremely sceptical," he stated.