Security alerts

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Customers of financial institutions can be prone to attempts by fraudsters to obtain personal information. This information can then be used to gain access to an individual’s financial accounts. There are many ways in which you could be contacted such as email, post, social media or cold calls, but the methods used are constantly evolving so it is important that you are aware of the types of fraud people are becoming victim to.

Protect yourself

Awareness

Be aware

It is important to be aware that a fraudster could contact you, falsely portraying themselves as an employee of a financial institution. They do this in an attempt to extract personal information in order to access your accounts. They have been known to use telephone, email, and even fax.

Fraudsters are constantly looking for new and improved ways to scam a potential victim. They will often claim to be in receipt of a sum of money owed to ‘you’ the client. They will then claim to release this money once you have paid a smaller sum to a pre-determined bank account, or potentially request you to answer a number of security questions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) suggests that “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”*

The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) tells individuals to Stop, Challenge and Protect:

Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
Challenge: Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
Protect: Contact your investment manager immediately if you think you’ve been defrauded and report it to Action Fraud. Speak to your bank as soon as possible if you believe you have transferred money to a criminal.

If you are ever in doubt about the authenticity of Jupiter correspondence, we recommend you call us directly on 0800 561 4000 or write to us at Jupiter Customer Services Department, PO Box 10666, Chelmsford, CM99 2BG.

Things to look for

Being contacted about an investment opportunity that seems out of the ordinary. This could be through cold-calling, or via an email/letter that appears to be from Jupiter but is in fact a falsified document.
In the case of a fraud, the third party may look to apply pressure in an attempt to make you ‘the client’ feel as though there is no other option but to continue. Be suspicious of bullish behaviour and also the offering of any ‘bonus’ payments for releasing information or making payments.
Be wary of any offers that seem too good to be true. If you are being offered high returns, in short time frames, with 100% guarantees on investment, this should raise concerns that the offer may not be genuine.
Fraudsters often ask for money to be sent electronically to a bank account. This is often not in the name of the company they claim to work for but instead a third party. Jupiter would not ask you to send us money electronically to a bank account.
If you can’t find any contact details on the FCA Register or if the firm claims that the details are out of date, check by calling the consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768.

* Source: Financial Conduct Authority/ https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/how-avoid-investment-pension-scams

Password protect

Creating secure passwords to protect accounts can help to protect an individual’s personal data from fraudsters. Ideally, to provide a higher level of protection an individual would have different passwords for different accounts and would refrain from writing these down where they could be accessed easily to gain access to their personal information by another individual.

Security details

Common frauds

There are various types of fraud where members of the public are contacted by people claiming to work for Investment Companies like Jupiter. Below are some of the most common:

Boiler room operations

Boiler room fraud involves the mis-selling of worthless or bogus stocks and shares for the sole purpose of defrauding cash from unwitting investors. Organised criminals run ‘boiler rooms’ with a sales pitch designed to play to an innocent investor’s desire to make a profit. You can read more about this on the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) website by clicking here.

Carbon credit schemes

Fraud involving Carbon Credits are very similar to boiler room fraud but instead of trying to sell you stocks and shares they try and convince you to invest in carbon credit or emission reduction schemes. These are highly complex products and in the UK the FCA has published information specifically on this due to the increasing number of frauds involving them. To read the FCA’s guidance on Carbon Credits please click here.

Bogus funds

Cloned firms

This is where fraudsters will use a genuine investment company’s name and regulator registration number but their own contact information. This means the fraudulent company will appear genuine when you verify them on a regulator’s website. If you are ever unsure about the legitimacy of a company please use the contact information provided on the regulator’s register. In the UK please click here for the FCA’s register of authorised firms.

Comparator Platforms

Jupiter has been notified that members of the public are being contacted by fraudsters claiming to work for price comparison websites selling investment products. These platforms are often fake and the fraudsters are cloning the brands and documentation of legitimate investment management companies. The fraudsters are targeting members of the public through sponsored Google and Facebook links and are collecting personal details from illegitimate call centres.

Jupiter does not use cold calling to contact members of the public and does not use Facebook to promote its business.

If you are unsure of the legitimacy of the correspondence you have received, please contact Jupiter directly using the details provided on this webpage.

Investment fraud

Postal interception fraud

Postal interception is more than just an inconvenience, it is another way members of the public can become victims of fraudsters. It can seriously jeopardise the security around a person’s bank accounts and investments. When criminals intercept post they can use it to obtain confidential information and use this to steal a victim’s identity, take over accounts and potentially steal or transfer funds away from victims.

The UK financial services industry has seen a growing number of non-UK residents becoming the target of postal interception. We have found South African residents are disproportionately affected by this although other countries’ nationals are also vulnerable.

Jupiter has developed and implemented a number of systems and controls to combat fraud and safeguard the interests of customers but it is important customers are also alert to this problem. If any customer is worried about this topic please do not hesitate to contact us.

Malware emails

Members of the public may be likely to receive emails from what seems like a legitimate source and email address. These emails may be a form of malware that attempts to install malicious software onto the recipient’s computer. If you receive this type of email please delete it and immediately run a virus check on your computer. We also advise that if you receive this type of email you report the sender to your ISP and also to Action Fraud, which is the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre.

Social media

Individuals are creating fake social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn using genuine company employee names. Customers are then receiving unsolicited contact from unknown individuals using these employee names and making reference to these fake social media accounts in an attempt to make the contact seem genuine. These fake social media accounts are merely intended to confuse and defraud customers. If you come across social media accounts like this and are unsure about authenticity please contact the relevant company directly.

W-8BEN Scam

Fraudsters have been issuing letters to overseas customers asking them to complete a W-8BEN form and fax or sending it over to a fake number or address.

The Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding) is a legitimate U.S. tax exemption document and while some firms do sometimes issue these forms to customers for genuine reasons, these particular W-8BEN forms are not authentic.

The intention of the fraudsters is to acquire your personal details, such as mother’s maiden name, passport number, account details, PIN numbers, passcodes and debit card security numbers in order to commit fraud. The legitimate IRS Form W-8BEN does not ask for any of this information.

A genuine Form W-8BEN can be found here.

The fraudsters use various angles to get you to complete the fake form and may claim that, for example:

Anti-money laundering regulations require a review of your client information and ask you to complete the form.
You are exempt from tax reporting and withholdings on income including interest paid to you, therefore, to protect your exemption from tax please complete the attached form.

Therefore, if you receive a W8-BEN form by unsolicited email, fax or post, please do not reply to it and contact the relevant firm that it has supposedly been sent from immediately to enquire about its authenticity.

Recruitment Scams

Legitimate companies can be subject to having their brand and name used in recruitment scams. Individuals are being contacted via email, by a person alleging to be a member of a company’s HR team, regarding career opportunities at the relevant company. These operate using a number of stages:

You receive an email inviting you for an interview (online using Google Hangout or via text).
You are requested to provide personal details.
You are given an employment offer/letter.
You are asked to perform initial online training.
You are asked to purchase equipment using funds that they send to you via cheque/transfer.