The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reports on the likely existence of scam firms that have started offering fake claims management services to the citizens of the United Kingdom that might be struggling with debts like mortgage. The scammers say they can help people to even write off their debts. These services should be treated as a brewing scam!
How does this work? According to the FCA, the unauthorized firms are charging fees to manage the debts with promises of being able to eventually help write off the debts.
In order to convince the unsuspecting targets, the scammers quote ideas from renown sources such as Freeman of the Land, Strawman and Sovereign Citizen. By using these ideas, the scammers are hoping to plant the idea that governments and laws should never have any power over people. These ideas can easily win over people who are stressed by financial debts and who are looking for ways to get out of the predicament.
The FCA has warned the public to watch out for this scam, saying that these scams often emerge when countries are facing economic hardships. THis is the case now as the economy is facing uncertain times given that the world has just come from the COVID-19 pandemic not forgetting the raging Russia-Ukraine crisis.
How to spot this scam
First, all companies that offer financial management services in the United Kingdom must be registered and approved by the Financial Conduct Authority. Any firm that cannot demonstrate that it’s been registered by the FCA is illegal and should automatically be treated as a scam.
Please note that if you use a firm that is not authorized by the FCA, then you will not be able to enjoy the services of the Financial Ombudsman. What this means is that your claim will not be serviced. You will also not be able to benefit from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). In short any funds that you may have lost to the scammers will not be compensated by these government agencies.
Before you engage any firm or pay any money to firms purporting to be offering to write off your debt, please check their status with the Financial Services Register. This is the easiest way to find out if the firm contacting you is registered. If you find that the firm is registered, don’t stop there yet because scammers can also pick just any firm from the register and use the name to perform crimes. Go ahead and use the contacts from the register to reach out to the firm. In other words you should always ignore the contacts used by the person contacting you and instead use the contacts that are in the official register.
If you do all these checks and discover that the people contacting you are likely to be scammers, please stop the communication and report them to the Financial Conduct Authority via 0800 111 6768 or via their contact page. Fee free to also contact Scam Help and let’s work together to help stop these scams from spreading.
