The Insolvency Service has been made aware that third parties have contacted investors in Dow and Jones, a company that was wound up in the public interest on 17 March 2020.
Investors have been told that they will get their money back if they pay something to the person contacting them.
In some instances, the individual claims to work for the Insolvency Service.
Known as ‘recovery room schemes’, “these approaches are always fraudulent”, the Insolvency Service stated in a general warning in March 2021.
Fine wine
Dow and Jones sold wine to members of the public as an investment opportunity.
The bottles, however, were usually priced at double the normal retail mark up, meaning that it was unlikely they would ever get their initial capital back, let alone make any profit.
Staff also claimed that additional purchases were required to ensure that a portfolio of wines could be sold more quickly and at a higher price.
In March 2020, Irshard Mohammed, senior investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Similar to boiler room operations, Dow and Jones used sales scripts from previously failed companies, which assisted salesmen to convince people, including the vulnerable, to invest their money in unregulated investments.
“Even those customers who received the wine they had paid for lost a sizable proportion of their investment, as the wine was materially overpriced.
