Be aware that the scammers may give out other false details or mix these with some correct details of the authorised firm
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued warnings about two fake clones of financial businesses.
The clone names are UK Credit Limited and Standard Chartered Mututal Services, the clone also claiming to be registered to the real Standard Chartered Bank’s London address.
The real FCA-authorised firms that fraudsters are claiming to work for have no association with the ‘clone firms’.
The real UK Credit Limited also trading as 1st car Finance is registered to provide financial services in the UK and its correct details are the registered and trading address of St Crispin’s House, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1PD.
The clone firm calling itself Standard Chartered Mutual Services is registered to an address in Hong Kong, and also claims to be registered to the real Standard Chartered Bank address in London.
The cloners have also set up two fake Standard Chartered websites, https://www.stanchbn.com/en, and https://www.stanchbn.com where one site links to the bank’s real Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The FCA said: “Be aware that the scammers may give out other false details or mix these with some correct details of the authorised firm.”
It adds: “This is what we call a ‘clone firm’; and fraudsters usually use this tactic when contacting people out of the blue, so you should be especially wary if you have been cold called.
“They may use the name of the genuine firm, the ‘firm reference number’ (FRN) we have given the authorised firm or other details.”
The authorised firm Standard Chartered Bank has no association with the clone firm and is authorised to offer, promote or sell services or products in the UK.