Investment scams

This type of fraud is known as "boiler room fraud", and uses unfair and dishonest sales tactics to sell you something worthless—most often, stocks and shares.

How it works

Investment scams are promoted by telephone and sales tactics. Fraudsters encourage you to spend large amounts of money on worthless or non-existent shares.

The fraudsters use hard sell techniques to convince you. They may tell you they have inside information and that you should invest immediately to ensure you do not miss the "opportunity".

To encourage you further, the scam may refer to involvement of law firms. This is to try to convince you the investment is credible. The firms may be genuine law firms, unaware their names are being used.

The fraudsters are unauthorised investment firms based overseas. Because they are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority, you cannot claim compensation.

What you should do

You can check if an investment is authorised by visiting the Financial Services Authority's website for consumers.

If you think you have fallen victim to a scam, contact your local police.

If you believe a person or firm regulated by us is involved, contact us immediately by emailing or writing to our Fraud and Confidential Intelligence Bureau.