Thoughts on Finance, Current Affairs and General Consumer Ripoffs - Damn Lies and Statistics

  Oakridge Property Investments There is a company called EWP Group that is offering investments in various unregulated high risk bond offers with a slick presenter telling potential investors about the safety of the investments. It needs to be highlighted that ANY unregulated investment has NO FSCS protection and is therefore very high risk. Any investors should be using their regulated investment options before even looking at these sort of unregulated high risk options. The companies being promoted by EWP Group appear to be Oakridge and Big Roar property bond investments. Oakridge appears to be unconnected to the US based company Oakridge Investments. There are also other UK companies with this name but the relevant UK company appears has 2 employees according to their latest accounts which raises a question as to how big they actually are. They have also only been in existence since 2023 which doesn't give a very long track record for handing money over to. Their last accounts ...

Oakridge & Big Roar Property Investments There is a company called EWP Group that is offering investments in various unregulated high risk bond offers with a slick presenter telling potential investors about the safety of the investments. It needs to be highlighted that ANY unregulated investment has NO FSCS protection and is therefore very high risk. Any investors should be using their regulated investment options before even looking at these sort of unregulated high risk options. The companies being promoted by EWP Group appear to be Oakridge and Big Roar property bond investments. EWP Group don't seem to be overly successful themselves as it appears from their accounts that they're making continual losses and are currently over £2 million in losses sitting in their balance sheet. They've also used an accounting trick to change the date of their accounts which allows them to delay publishing their details. This is an entirely legal option but is one that has been used...

 Yet another "alternative" investment platform has been shut down by the FCA. Moneda Capital was somewhat more blatant than others in that it was claiming to offer savings accounts via its Savings Hub yet the banks listed as being recipients of the funds had no knowledge of Moneda Capital using them. We'll have to wait to see what the FCA find when they investigate but the fact they have shut them down and frozen the assets of the company isn't a great sign. The Moneda Capital website is no longer available and the only message shown is the FCA investigation warning. There is no way to click off the warning to see the rest of the site. It's very worrying that there are investors on their Trustpilot review page that say they have put their life savings into Moneda's Savings Hub with one claiming to have over £300,000 placed with them. If that's the case there could be many investors out of pocket. There were warnings here about Moneda Capital but sadly on...

 The FCA have taken High Court action against the people behind Concept Capital Group which was reported here back in 2021 with many replies from them protesting their innocence. FCA disagreed and have accused them of operating an unauthorised investment scheme and misleading consumers with false information. It's unclear how this might affect anyone who has invested money with them. According to the article on their website it's a total of £23million that has been collected by Concept Capital https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-acts-alleged-23-million-unauthorised-collective-investment-scheme The risks that were hidden on the Concept Capital website

Further to the previous post about Moneda Capital it seems they are ramping up their sales pitch using the name My Savings Hub. The following was reported by someone who was contacted by them after filling in a contact form from their advert on Facebook/Instagram. Be very, very careful if you are looking at savings options that are outside the FSCS protected range of UK banks. This company claim to use other banks but the banks have confirmed they are not an approved representative of them. If you hand over your money in the expectation it will be passed on to a bank like Close Brothers then you could be very disappointed and out of pocket. Email from Moneda Capital called My Savings Hub. Hope this email finds you well and good speaking to you as discussed, I recommend that you register to gain access to our other products. Our approach is very simple: We help you maximise your returns while eliminating the hassle of constantly tracking the best rates yourself by providing you with exc...

I've seen a company called Moneda Capital advertising heavily on Instagram and Facebook. I think it's likely to be quite confusing for anyone viewing the adverts as they're posted alongside established investment companies such as Investec and Interactive Investor.  Moneda Capital Advert for Savings at 4.9% with Unknown Bank Some people say that any investment on social media is a scam but that's clearly not the case when Investec and ii are both advertising. However it's worth flagging up the risks to anyone who is considering entrusting their money to Moneda Capital. Investec Advert for Savings at 4.84% I'm not sure what sort of organisation they are but their website seems to be hiding their company details so they aren't visible on their homepage. The legal requirement is to display the Company Info "prominently" so I don't think hiding this in their privacy policy follows the spirit of these rules even if it technically complies.  There ar...

 In the civil case brought by the administrators of LCF (London Capital & Finance) the High Court has now ruled that LCF was a Ponzi scheme where new investors' money is used to pay back interest and capital to existing ones. This was fairly clear from the information that showed LCF was lending money to new companies that had no means to pay any interest. What wasn't known at the time was that these companies were all being used by the people behind LCF to extract as much money as they could from investor's contributions. The court is yet to determine the amounts that the defendants need to repay. When a company isn't interested in the accuracy or truthfulness of its advertising then it's very often the case that they really aren't bothered who they mislead and scam. LCF Advertising The complex web of interconnected companies that LCF gave money to. This is very deliberate use of the word "gave" rather than "lent" as many of these compan...

 It's been reported on the MoneySavingExpert (MSE) forums that investors in Concept Capital Group are having difficulty getting their money repaid in line with the terms of their investments. Various excuses are apparently being given but no money is forthcoming. The investor reports that payments had been up to date (but small interest payments are easy to fund, large capital is difficult) As Concept Capital Group are quite active monitoring and replying to posts on this blog it would be appreciated if they can give their side of the repayment situation so the investor can get their money back. It might be likely that Concept Capital are struggling financially as their latest accounts filed for the year to 31 October 2023 show a big decrease in the value of assets that they own. The value of their assets has massively dropped from £427,000 in 2022 to only £4000 in 2023 as a result of a huge revaluation reducing the value by £446,000 in that time. This presumably relates to the wri...

The trial of various individuals associated with LCF (London Capital and Finance) started in Feb 2024. There seems little mainstream coverage of the proceedings, probably because they are quite technical and maybe generally of interest to a small group of affected investors. However I've found an excellent resource that is giving daily transcripts of the proceedings and to say they were enlightening would be an understatement. As someone who has been involved in investigating LCF for nearly 8 years it is fascinating to read the behind the scenes details of how the company was setup and how accurate some of my summaries were. Sadly many of the details couldn't be published at the time because without more evidence they would have been considered libellous but the emails from LCF now show how their scheme was planned from the start. You can keep up to date with Mouse in Court here  https://mouseinthecourtroom.wordpress.com/2024/02/25/court-documents-lcf-trial/?s=03 Various advert...

 There have been lots of comments on an earlier article about the bonds offered by a company called Marshbell Limited and it appears that many people have lost significant amounts of money as a result. Marshbell repeated threatened legal action and claimed that their investments were low risk and "asset backed", a line used by many failed investments in the past such as London Capital and Finance. Sadly the news relating to Marshbell Ltd isn't positive. Their Companies House records show that their accounts are well overdue despite previously using the accounting trick of adjusting their financial year by 1 day to delay submission. There is also an active proposal to strike the company off so any investors should register their objections to that asap to have any chance of recovering any money. Marshbell Ltd Companies House entry - strike off proposed The second bit of bad news is to look at the accounts for 2021 that they did actually file and these make sober reading. T...

 It's been a long time coming but the court case begins in Jan 2024 where various directors and associated parties with London Capital and Finance are being sued by Smith & Williamson (now Evelyn Partners) for a proportion of the £237million that investors lost in the collapse. This isn't the same as a criminal prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) which is still working on whether there is a case to present to court against anyone involved in LCF. A separate case was taken out recently by the SFO against former LCF CEO Michael  (Andy) Thomson where he was convicted of hiding money in breach of an restraint order. More details here:   https://www.sfo.gov.uk/2023/05/17/sfo-secures-10-month-sentence-for-former-london-capital-finance-plc-ceo/ Investors have been compensated by the FSCS for any funds below the £85k limit. Anyone who invested above £85,000 in LCF will still have a significant shortfall in the money they invested. Evelyn Partners are no...

There are many adverts being placed online for a site called UK Models that claim to offer modelling jobs to those that apply. The reality is that UK Models is not a modelling agency but a front for a studio that will just sell you an expensive portfolio.   Everyone is accepted for a model shoot because their main interest is selling that photo shoot. They can't offer you modelling work because they don't have any as they aren't an agency Real model agencies do not charge £50 deposit to assess you - that would be an illegal fee. However it's not illegal to charge a deposit for a photo shoot. UK models will tell you to bring a parent if you are under 22. That clearly isn't needed in the UK as anyone over 18 is an adult. The only reason for someone older to attend is so they have money to pay for the expensive portfolios. UK models previously was the name used by Blue Rooms studios to sell their model portfolios, they may be used by a different studio now. If you are ...

 Investment Synergy Ltd Review - Secured Property Bonds - Is it a scam? It's quite unclear what Investment Synergy actually is so it's not very easy to review them other than being clear what they aren't. They have some glowing reviews but it's very easy to fake such things and you have no guarantee that these are genuine or that the people investing have any idea of the risk they are taking. Reviews of London Capital & Finance were all positive until it collapsed and lost their money. The big red flag is the complete absence of any risk warnings that are required for any investment where your capital is at risk as this one is. If you look at their Companies house entry they have been dormant from 2012-2022 so it's hardly the track record their website claims of trading for over 10 years. Investment Synergy Ltd Review - Secured Property Bonds - Is it a scam? Interestingly the photos they've added on their Google review show some offices interiors and desks b...

 I've checked my credit card statement this month and found a transaction that I didn't recognise on there that was shown as ENGHERI*Giftcard Hurley. Searching online suggested that this was a clothing store called Hurley that sells giftcards but I'd never shopped there and couldn't find any record of this place in my emails.  Tracking back through I also couldn't find any purchases around the date that the transaction appeared on my statement so it was all a bit of a puzzle. ENGHERI*Giftcard Hurley Credit Card transaction - Scam? Out of nowhere a flash of enlightenment came to me about what I'd spent on that particular day! It was my English Heritage membership renewal that was mainly paid using Tesco Clubcard vouchers with the balance paid by credit card. Very confusing transaction details on the statement which I suspect generates a lot of queries to the banks. ENGHERI = ENGlish HERItage and it's paid as a gift card as the balance was paid using vouchers....

 I've just moved house and the previous resident was with SSE (Southern Electric) so I need to register with them at least for a period of time before moving to another supplier - unlikely in the current climate! Fortunately I know what I am looking for so was very surprised to see that the only 2 tariffs that SSE were offering were fixed rate ones. There was no option at all to take the variable standard tariff that the price cap applies to. Only reason I can see is to stop customers being able to get the best rate. Why are OFGEM allowing this!?

 It's been announced that Fluid ISA Bond Ltd has been placed into liquidation meaning investors are now in the line of creditors to wait for any possible recovery of funds. Unfortunately the administrators have advised that they do not foresee any money being available to distribute to bondholders. It appears that the Fluid ISA website being "down for maintenance" some months ago was the prelude to this as it never actually came back from maintenance. You can see the previous post about lack of redemption payments here Sadly another mini bond saga where investors have lost money, some of whom don't appear to have really known or understood what they were investing their money into. The liquidators will need to assess whether Fluid ISA bond was genuine or whether it was a scam that needs further investigation. You can read the Gazette notice here https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4046635 Fluid ISA Bond Liquidation - Was it a Scam?

 A firm called Kudona are advertising on Facebook that are offering 3.8% savings interest. This is way above the market rate so is this a scam? Interestingly there is no result returned on Google if you look up "Kudona 3.8% savings Interest" which is very odd. If there is no way to check the info online through Google and Kudona have no online presence then that is a very big warning sign. If you look up Kudona on the FCA website there is no company listed by that name so it would appear that your money is at risk and you will have no recourse to compensation from FSCS. With these warning signs our advice would be to stay well away. If Kudona are genuinely offering 3.8% savings interest on a FSCS protected account we're happy to update this information if they can provide details of the company Kudona 3.8% savings Interest - Is it a Scam? Update - there is a website for Kudona but the same caveats apply. It isn't FSCS protected so your savings are at risk. It appears...

 I received a text message recently telling me that someone I knew had tested positive (presumably for Covid19) and that I needed to order a test kit. The message wasn't shown as coming from the NHS and the website link had no NHS details in the URL but the website displayed was branded to look like NHS. This is a scam and nothing to do with the NHS. The number 07759 129388 / +44 7759 129 388 is used as sender ID but is likely to be a fake number. NHS Covid Omicron Test Kit Scam text If you click on the link you are taken to a website that claims to be an NHS one but has some obvious clues apart from the web address that show it is fake. The tests for Omicron are exactly the same as for other Covid19 variants, there is no suggestion that the variant "appears dormant" as the scammers are claiming. In the UK at least there is no isolation requirement for anyone who is a contact and this is unrelated to having a test or not. The wording of the scam text SMS message is purely...

 We've been made aware of a scam email doing the rounds claiming to be from Money Saving Expert (MSE) Martin Lewis and offering an EON/e-On fixed rate bond paying rates of 3.5% and 5.875%. This scam is nothing to do with MSE, Martin Lewis or e.On. The scammers are just using their names to give some credibility and to gain trust. If you hand money over you will lose it and not hear from the scammers again so give them a very wide berth. Eon MSE Martin Lewis Scam Bond Email

The company name  CPrompt UK Ltd is being used by scammers to target investors in Fluid ISA Bond to recover money from their investment.  C Prompt UK Ltd is a company based in North East UK that has been running since 1993, owned by 2 people and has no website or any obvious online presence. You can check their details on Companies House here: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02876125 The scammers using the C Prompt UK name have no connection to the real company and are claiming to be based in London. It also appears that they have setup a website which again is nothing to do with the real company. They are presumably relying on the fact that C Prompt UK have no contact details online for any Fluid ISA Bond investors to validate or disprove the scam. The scammers are reportedly asking for 5% fees to recover funds from Fluid ISA that they claim has gone into liquidation. There is no information to support this claim. Although the ISA manager NP...