The Insolvency Service has received reports that the victims of defunct investment scheme Global Wine Exchange are being targeted by recovery scammers promising they can return the money they lost.
The firm was put into compulsory liquidation in March 2022 after the courts determined company abused nearly £2m ($2.2m, €2.3m) of investors’ funds.
The service warned that scammers are falsely posing as officials from a trading standards or professional body and are pushing investors to engage and share their personal information with them, threatening to withhold the funds if they don’t.
Legally, only the Official Receiver as liquidator can receive liquidation claims, the Insolvency Service explained.
Mark Ireson, senior examiner at the Insolvency Service, said: “Recovery room scammers deceitfully impersonate a legitimate corporate entity and claim they are acting on their behalf to help you recover lost fees. In the Global Wine Exchange case, the scammers are sending emails from what look like official trading standards accounts.
“We strongly urge Global Wine Exchange investors to ignore these messages and report them straight to the Official Receiver. The Official Receiver will never ask you to pay an up-front fee to get your investment back and as liquidator, the Official Receiver is the only person that can distribute available funds.”
Scam epidemic
The Insolvency Service’s warning comes at the same time as a study by Canada Life which discovered that 51% of UK adults – around 27 million people – have either received or know someone who has received communication from fraudsters in the last 12 months.
More than half (51%) seem to be “phishing scams” attempts where criminals try to imitate a legitimate company or person to secure personal information from the victim.
Crypto scams are also gaining momentum, with 20% of Brits claiming either them or someone they know has been the target of one over the past year. They are then followed by romance or dating scams (11%) and pension transfer scams (8%).
All in all, younger people seem to be more likely to fall prey to scammers and, on average, lose more money to them, Canada Life found.
Around 21% of UK adults have lost money to fraudsters, but the percentage rises to 34% for 18-34-year-olds.
Similarly, the average sum lost to scammers in the country is £207, but increases to £361 for the younger group and drops to £112 for those aged over 55.
What to do
Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, said: “Scammers are a scourge of our society and continue to come up with devious ways to come between us and our hard-earned cash. In a cost-of-living crisis it may be all too tempting to try and make a quick buck or be attracted to market beating investment returns. Run a mile, these ‘get rich quick’ schemes will only pour more financial pain on those who unfortunately fall prey to the thieves and conmen.
“With crypto scams becoming more common, perhaps it’s unsurprising that more younger generations are being caught out. Not only are 18–34-year-olds more likely to fall victim to a scam than older generations, but they are also set to lose more financially. It might be the case of ‘bet big, win big.’ But sadly, the reality is ‘bet big, lose big’. Scammers are often already heading for the door before you realise what is happening.
“With many families struggling to make ends meet, and as the cost-of-living squeeze tightens, offering easy access to your pension might seem the perfect opportunity to dig yourself out of trouble. The reality is you can’t access your pension savings before the age of 55, so it’s very likely it will be scammers.
“Follow the simple rule of thumb, if it appears too good to be true, it inevitably is. Simply walk away, hang up, or delete the email or text to keep your money safe from the scammers.”
