Over the next six months, an intelligence picture will be developed using the information gathered during the day to ensure that investment fraudsters are prevented from operating in the City of London.
One team discovered a business that had paid over three months’ rent to the serviced office provider upfront and then disappeared.
Work will now take place to investigate whether it was possibly a boiler room.
To help tackle growing investment fraud, the City of London Police will be raising awareness through its social media channels over the next week using the hashtag #BeatTheBoilerRooms.
Binary numbers
The raids follow reports from Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre, that 2,065 people have reported being a victim of binary options since 2012, collectively losing nearly £60m ($79.1m, €67.2m).
In just the first half of 2017, nearly 700 people lost over £18m through what is effectively fixed-odds betting that is prone to fraud and have been banned in many jurisdictions.
The average sum lost per person is more than £22,000.
In a scathing YouTube video in September, Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, blasted dodgy companies and scammers who are “trying to leach off” his and his website’s hard-earned reputation.
He said: “It is a con, it is a scam. It is about binary trading, it is a brilliant way to lose money, do not touch it, do not sniff it, do not smell it, do not go near it. It has nothing to do with me.”
Hostile to fraudsters
City of London Police’s chief superintendent Glenn Maleary, head of the Economic Crime Directorate, said: “This multi-agency operation, allowed us to speak with multiple businesses and gather significant intelligence around various investments currently being traded in the City.
“With our partners we want to ensure the City is a hostile environment for fraudsters to operate in and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that this is the case.
“Throughout this year we have been raising awareness of binary options fraud and over the coming days we will be providing more advice on how people can beat the boiler rooms and protect themselves from all types of investment fraud.”
Illusion of respectability
Steve Playle, trading standards manager for the City of London Corporation, said: “Trading Standards is a key player in the clampdown on fraudsters. Working closely with our partners, we are deterring investment scammers who use City addresses to create an illusion of respectability that plays an important part in persuading people to part with their money.
“This day of action is raising public awareness so that we can all do our bit and report those that we think are involved in this miserable practice.”
