IoM warns on ‘Irish Nationwide’ website
From Tax & Regulation Jan 13 2012 BY: Will Jackson
, Contributing editor
, International Adviser
The Isle of Man’s Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has issued a warning regarding a website which claims to represent ‘The Irish Nationwide Bank’.
Website www.irishnationwidebank.com is “bogus”, the regulator said, and is not connected with Irish Nationwide (I.O.M.) Limited, a genuine entity whose website is www.iniom.com.
Individuals should exercise the greatest possible caution before considering dealing with the “potentially fraudulent entity” behind www.irishnationwidebank.com, the FSC warned.
Any person using this website could potentially become the victim of an “advanced fee fraud” – a crime explained in greater detail on this page of the FSC website.
Alternatively, the website may be an attempt to gather personal data for identity theft, it said. A related explanatory notice from the FSC can be found on its website, while information from the Isle of Man’s Data Protection Supervisor can be viewed here (opens PDF).
Individuals who have paid funds in connection to www.irishnationwidebank.com should contact their local police fraud unit, while persons who are already involved in dealings with the website should alert the FSC enforcement division on +44 1624 689311, or by email at fsc@gov.im.