Berkeley Trading Ltd Scam Alert

Berkeley Trading Ltd Scam Alert.

A poor quality scam operating under the name of Berkeley Trading Ltd is being heavily promoted to the public.  We are grateful to a reader in Asia who brought this to our attention.  Here are some of the key points from the company’s website:

UK based trading company with significant trading opportunities across a number of non correlated market related strategies.

Share In Over 30 Years Of Our Trading Success.

Key Features Of Our Investments:

• Yearly Capital Secured Income Note options with returns up to 12% Gross Per Annum.
• Low Risk
• Capital Guarantee, Secured by a First Legal Charge & Deed of Debenture.
• Proven Compartmentalised, Fully Diversified Investment Strategy.
• Reputable Track Record, Clients Are Always Paid On Time & In Full.
• Clients Choose Annual or Deferred Interest Payments.
• Low Barrier to Entry, Clients Can Invest From As Little As 10K.
• Available in GBP, EUR & USD.
• Direct Entry With No Hidden Costs or Platform Fees.
• Full Flexibility. Option To Renew The Investment & Clients Can Add More As & When They wish.

We don’t want to spend a lot of time on this scam because it really is quite poor.  Unfortunately, many investors worldwide may be taken in by it because it claims to be offered by a UK limited company based in London.  The UK is still regarded as a safe place to invest. God knows why because we estimate that 70% of the scams we investigate are either located in the UK or are run outside the UK by British citizens.

The website – LINK HERE states that the investment is low risk and is “as safe as possible”.  It isn’t, because it’s a scam and they will steal the money as soon as it is paid over.  The company Berkeley Trading Ltd – LINK TO COMPANIES HOUSE, was formed in March 2022.  The company’s registered office is one of the usual virtual office addresses.  The director’s name is Declan Walsh.  This will either be a false name or some poor soul has had his ID documents stolen and has no idea that he is a company director.  The domain name for the website was also bought in March 2022.  They only paid for one year which suggests that this was always intended to be a quick smash and grab raid on investors.

We always enjoy a really good fake customer story.  We’re rarely disappointed when we read the rubbish that scam websites write about themselves and their customers.  So let’s enjoy what David, Phillipa and John have to say about their wonderfully concocted fake experiences with Berkeley Trading Ltd.

 

David. London

When David purchased his buy to let London property he obtained a mortgage at a 4% fixed rate. He had unrealised cash in the bank that was earning almost zero interest. Not wanting to pay his mortgage down with cash on hand, David opted to invest 50K GBP in a 3 year income note paying 12% interest. The end result means from his 50K investment David is set to gain 6K per annum, and 18K over the income note term. His 50K is now working harder meaning he has an 8% per year gain when offset against his mortgage cost.

“ When I was presented with this investment option it made total sense!

Whilst preserving my capital I was getting essentially free money to pay off against my mortgage.”

David W. London

Oh David, we can totally see why you invested £50k.  Free money and an investment option which makes total sense !  It’s not every day that a deal as good as this falls into your lap.  David, you must be one of those rare people who lady luck smiles upon on a regular basis.  A week after David invested in Berkeley Trading a Nigerian Princess contacted him and asked him to put £50m into his bank account for her and she would pay him a huge sum.  He still can’t believe his luck !

 

Phillipa. Algarve, Portugal.

As a former CFO in a large corporate Phillipa took early retirement and moved full time to her villa on the Algarve. Alongside her private pension Phillipa had 200K Euro on bank deposit earning close to negative interest. She needed a stable income for 4 years before qualifying for her pension. 200K Euro was invested in 4 separate, 3 year income notes each paying 12% interest per year. By selecting the bi-annual interest option from the 4 notes with 8 coupon triggers staggered across 12 months she now receives 24K total annual interest split into 8 payments of 3k Euro gross a year. Phillipa intends to renew her income notes after 3 years for a further year taking her right up to pension draw down.

“This for me was the perfect investment solution.

It enabled me to change my circumstances, live my dream, retire early and finally move to Portugal “

Phillipa R. Portugal

Phillipa, your investment criteria seems to be a little bit unusual.  You needed a stable income for four years so you decided that the most stable place to put your money was with a one-man company which had only been in existence for a few months with a virtual office address.  Not very sensible for someone who was supposed to be a former CFO in a large corporate.  You weren’t the CFO of Lehman Brothers by any chance ?

 

John, Chartered Accountant

Former Partner, Retired. (Big 4 Management Consultancy).

John was recommended he took a look at our income notes from a colleague prior to his retirement.

Although John had a robust, self managed investment portfolio built up over 15 years, he also had a lump sum on deposit. Reticent to commit that to his portfolio, a shorter term investment was required. Initially John chose two separate Income notes of 25K each for a 1 year term, both paying annual coupons of 12%.p.a. fixed return. At the 6 month trigger coupon payment for his first note he called us requesting to add more. John had taken profit on his portfolio and decided to add 100K more! Not long after this in March ‘21 markets took a dive. Clearly John had timed his exit right!

“Given the uncertainty of today’s global economy I am now focusing my attention on fixed income products. These fixed income notes give me peace of mind and flexibility to plan ahead knowing exactly what returns i’m getting. Highly recommended, I wish I had found them earlier.”

John T. Frankfurt

John’s former colleague has most likely gone into hiding because John might be considering introducing him to his friend Mr Baseball Bat.  John is very smart though.  He was clever enough to invest in Berkeley Trading Ltd before March 2021 which was at least a year before the company even existed.  Now that is what we call forward-planning for your retirement !

Berkeley Trading Ltd is a scam and nobody should go anywhere near it with their money.

Berkeley Trading Ltd Scam Alert. Berkeley Trading Ltd Scam Alert.