Banking giant HSBC said its UK customers who fell victim to investment fraud had bigger sums of money taken from them than any other type of authorised push payment scam last year.
It reported an average of £19,728 ($27,424, €23,026) was defrauded per case between 1 January and 31 December 2020.
Looking at the month of December, losses more than tripled to £18,090,154 in 2020 up from £5,821,840 in 2019.
Investment scams included advertisements for bonds that may look like genuine offerings from a bank or financial services provider but are actually fake products.
HSBC said fraudsters “target people by email, social media, or phone and also set up convincing web pages to trick victims into transferring money” and also may “use the name, registration number and address of an authorised firm, or even clone their website, to promote an investment opportunity”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that scams involving an impersonation constitute 45% of all regulatory warnings issued since 2015.
‘Take advantage’
James Hewitson, head of wealth management at HSBC UK, said: “We’re aware that fraudsters have used and are continuing to use the covid-19 pandemic to take advantage of people who may be in an anxious state and facing financial difficulty.
“Customers may see an advert on the web or on social media for an investment scheme that promises low risk for high returns. The general rule is that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
“Customers can confirm a company is authorised by checking the FCA website or contacting their bank if they’re unsure about an investment.
“As a responsible provider, we will never contact an individual out of the blue about a bond and we only process such investments with a personal appointment.”
