Investor fraud warning

Please be alert when receiving telephone calls or emails from people purporting to represent Aberdeen or any of its affiliated brands, including, Aberdeen Financial Planning and Advice Limited, or third parties purporting to represent our interests. We are aware of a number of scams and attempted frauds through phone calls and websites claiming to be from Aberdeen offering an investment opportunity or who have offered to buy their investment shares. If you have any concerns, do not hesitate to contact your Financial Planner who would be happy to help.

How to spot an investment scam

Suspicious callers:

Some potential investors may be contacted by people who claim to be from the Aberdeen Group plc; fraudsters will often provide details to give the impression that they are calling on behalf of the Aberdeen Group plc in order to try and make you invest with them. They may try and attempt to sell you products, bonds or investments with the promise of financial gain or offer you advice over the telephone or email you links to bogus websites; they may even also have official sounding names and job titles. However, these callers do not work for us, we would never make these types of offers and do not ‘cold-call’ investors in this way. Any third party making such offers has no links with Aberdeen. These are attempts at investor fraud, they will either not exist or in fact be worthless; clients are advised not to respond to opportunities through cold callers, if something seems too good to be true it often is.

Suspicious emails:

Similar to cold calling, fraudsters may contact you by email. They may ask you to provide personal information by email; the source of the email may be unclear or the company name and email address may be slightly misspelt. Be alert for emails which contain poor grammar, spelling or punctuation.

How can you protect yourself from investor fraud?

Never provide personal details including passwords or answers to your security questions in an email. We never make these types of requests or offers via telephone call or email and would never contact potential investors in this way. If you have any doubt over the veracity of a person purporting to represent us, do not offer any personal information, end the call and contact your Planner.
The Financial Conduct Authority provides advice with respect to share fraud and boiler room scams here: http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/scams and you can check whether an investment or pension opportunity is a scam on the FCA warning list: https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/warning-list
Always speak with your financial planner and/or seek legal advice before proceeding with any investment.
Never send funds to anyone you do not know.
You should not respond to anyone who calls you attempting to sell you investment opportunities, simply hang up the phone.
The UK consumer group ‘Which?’ has also published simple, straightforward advice on their website regarding how to spot a scam.

What to do if you are scammed

If you think you have been the victim of a fraudulent scam, or that someone is trying to defraud you, contact the Police. There are other actions you can take, depending on what country you live in.

If you live in the UK the services in this list can help if you have, or think you have been the victim of fraud:

If you think you may have been caught out, defrauded or experienced cybercrime, we recommend that you contact Action Fraud (which is the National Fraud & Cybercrime Reporting Centre) or report directly to the Police.
The UK consumer group ‘Which?’ has also published useful advice regarding how to report a scam. This website also provides contact details of additional support services available to the victims of fraud.
If you have been the victim of fraud, then contact CIFAS to register and protect your identity from a further attack. www.cifas.org.uk
You can report a scam or unauthorised firm to the FCA: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam-unauthorised-firm
Please contact your planner to let them know that you have been a victim of fraud.

If you live outside the UK please check what services are available in your area, either from your government or consumer advice bodies. You can also search online for topics like "fraud prevention" or "report fraud".

If you have been caught out, it’s important that you report it to the authorities. If you do not report it to the authorities then we will not be able to assist. There may be others who have also fallen victim of the same scam and your information may form part of a bigger investigation and assist with an ongoing investigation.

If you have any fraud or financial crime related queries please contact the Head of Anti-Financial Crime and Group Money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), Runa Begum.