North-east residents have been urged to approach investment opportunities with caution after a new scam duped a victim out of thousands of pounds.
Following a call from a male purporting to be from a very well-known financial investment company, the resident in question was persuaded to invest a five figure sum of money in bonds.
The victim transferred the cash in direct debit and later received additional paperwork to track how their investment was performing.
After a failed attempt to log into their account, the resident contacted the company concerned to gain access – only to realise that it’s all been a scam.
Following the incident, Aberdeenshire Council Trading Standard warned people to never discuss financial matters with cold callers on the phone even when the company or offer appears to be “very plausible”.
The local authority’s latest bulletin advised: “This type of scam rests on the credibility of the scammer, who in the instance appeared very plausible.
“Our advice is to never discuss financial matters, especially investment ‘opportunities’, with cold callers on the phone. Simply hang up on them as the risk that they may be scammers is too great.
“If you’re looking for an investment opportunity, only use companies, which are regulated by the UK financial regulator, consider only using a company with a local branch office and a properly qualified advisors.
“Do some research on both the company and the qualifications presented by the advisor, ask questions and check the answers.”
People can check current scams that have been identified by the Trading Standards team on reputable webpages such as Friends Against Scams, Action Fraud, Take Five and FCA Scam Smart.