The Manitoba Securities Commission is warning investors about a potential advanced fee scheme targeting shareholders.
The MSC reports that it has received complaints from investors about an apparent advance fee scheme involving a firm that claims to be based in the province. It says that a firm called Goldman and Lyle Consulting Group is soliciting shareholders of various legitimate publicly-traded companies in the UK. It’s using a Winnipeg business address and phone numbers with a Manitoba area code, however the MSC says that the address is a parking lot and the phone numbers are actually untraceable overseas lines.
In a typical advanced fee scheme, investors who own shares in a legitimate company are offered inflated prices to sell their shares, explains the MSC. “Once the investor agrees to sell their shares they are asked to wire money to an offshore bank account to cover the costs of the sale. The perpetrators of the scheme withdraw the money and are never heard from again. The investor loses their money with little or no chance of recovery,” it notes.
The regulator reports that a similar scheme was recently conducted under the name, Drexel-Bearns Consulting Group, which is listed on the UK Financial Services Authority’s Unauthorized Firms list. And, it notes that the websites used by Goldman and Lyle and Drexel-Bearns are virtually identical. Neither firm is registered to trade in Manitoba.
“We have seen Manitoba investors targeted by numerous advanced fee schemes in the last couple of years. This is the first time we have seen the perpetrators use a Manitoba parking lot as an address. This is a good example of why investors need to be cautious and do their due diligence, especially when receiving unsolicited phone calls,” says MSC senior investigator, Jason Roy.