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

The name makes it sound safe - just like the precious metal but is the offer of 7% income from Basset & Gold too good to be true? Basset & Gold are advertising on Facebook for savings rates but their adverts are not clear that you can lose money as it is an investment not a guaranteed savings product. Fixed income isn't guaranteed if the underlying investment crashes! Their name has come up before when they advertised Pensioner Bonds that were nothing to do with the National Savings version and were investments that depended on performance of the loan whether you get your money back in full or not. Remember investments are only FSCS protected to £50k in the case of fraud, you can still lose money if the underlying investments fail and income is not guaranteed despite some posts suggesting otherwise. If a company like Basset & Gold suggests that the protection is £50,000 then it is not a savings product but an investment and you can lose money. Only savings are p...

A website advert called Top Savings/ISA Rates is claiming that there are savings accounts paying 8 percent fixed interest. This is blatantly untrue and the accounts they link to are not savings accounts, they are not FSCS protected and your money is at risk - there is the potential that you could lose all your money as any guarantees are worthless when they are unregulated investments and not protected by FSCS. The links provided make many mentions of the word "savings" but no equally prominent warnings about the risks involved. Everything on the advert is implying that the rate is fixed and is a savings account - most people will assume ISA means cash ISA especially when it refers to a rate of 8%, S&S ISAs don't pay a rate as they benefit from investment growth. Top Savings ISA Rates - Up to 8 percent? London Capital Savings ISA Rates - Up to 8 percent? Companies advertising such products include London Capital and Finance and Blackmore Bonds. These ...

A company called Blackmore Bonds are now using Facebook to promote their unregulated investments where you could lose all your money so I thought it would be worth a quick review for those who may be unsure whether Blackmore Bonds are genuine or a scam product. Many people want to know the answer to the question  "Are Blackmore Bonds safe?" The answer is no, they are an unregulated investment that isn't FSCS protected and you could lose all your money. There is no guarantee that they will pay income and you could get back less money than you invest in the Blackmore Bonds. Facebook adverts by Blackmore bonds are very heavily emphasised on the words "savings" and "interest" but seem less keen to use the words "risk" and "unregulated". Blackmore Bonds Reviews - are they safe? The words below again highlight fixed rate returns but the returns are only fixed if the company has the funds to continue paying them. There is no gu...

Are Blackmore Bonds a genuine investment or a scam? Blackmore Bonds are now being advertised on Facebook with more misleading, or more correctly, missing information. All the references are to savings yet Blackmore Bonds are not a savings product, they are an investment where you could lose all of your money. Their risk page is very clear that you may not get your money back. The advert mentions what you can do with your savings, it doesn't say that Blackmore Bonds are not a savings and are very risky. Blackmore Bonds are not FSCS protected so your money is not guaranteed as it is in a bank account and you could lose all your money. Blackmore Bonds Facebook adverts Read more about the risks of Blackmore Bonds on the link below but they make clear if you read the page that you could lose all your money and that the bonds cannot be sold or transferred. https://www.blackmorebonds.co.uk/risk-factors

Aston Darby are offering Airport Parking spaces at Manchester airport. They claim to guarantee returns of 22% but this is not an FSCS protected investment so the guarantee depends on them deciding to honour it. If they go bust in 2 years time you could well have lost all of your money. There is nothing that backs up the guarantees. The company Aston Darby was only setup in 2017 and has yet to file accounts so you are reliant on a very new company.  There is nothing to stop them paying you back your own money as the guaranteed income which may then stop after 2 years. Aston Darby Airport Parking Manchester - is it a scam? These types of unregulated investments might be suitable for an investor who has millions of other assets but for the average consumer they are a very risky option where you could lose all of your investment as those who have put their hard earned money into similar schemes have discovered to their cost. Remember - this is a high risk investment and on...

A company called London Capital and Finance are heavily advertising on various savings websites for what they call a savings bond with an interest rate of 8% and others have mistakenly called a London Capital Finance ISA. As the websites hosting the adverts are promoting savings accounts it's important to be clear - the London Capital and Finance bond is not a savings account or a cash ISA and involves risk to your money. You could lose all the money you invest as it is not FSCS protected. London Capital Finance ISA Savings Bond reviews The product offered by LCF appears to be genuine and not a scam but by promoting their product via savings websites they are misleading savers that this is a savings account and not a product that puts their money at risk. Is the London Capital Finance Bond ISA Interest Fixed or Guaranteed? The London Capital Finance bond or ISA gives the impression that the interest rate is fixed which it will be if the companies they lend the m...

Can you Earn Over 4% Interest on £15000 risk free? After repeatedly trying to help readers of This is Money to get decent rates on their savings and repeatedly being told I'm lying that I can earn decent interest on £15000, I decided to spell out exactly how it can be done. You do need to open accounts but to get 10x the rate available on a cash ISA seems worthwhile to me. You can even use variations to suit the amount of money you have and even drop the number of accounts or regular savers if you want less hassle. There are a number of current accounts paying interest, some vastly higher than any savings account. As of today, Tesco Bank pay 3% on £6000, TSB pay 3% on £3000 and Nationwide pay 3% or 5% depending on the account but £2500 in each account. For a couple you can do even better and get £7500 at 5% with Nationwide for 1 year. Regular saver accounts There are some savings accounts where you commit to paying a regular amount each month and the bank will pay a high rat...