Chartered Trading Standards Institute – Scam Alert.
Victims of the Essex and London Properties fraud are being contacted by telephone and email by a bogus scam group calling itself the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. The CTSI is a genuine organisation which helps members of the public with consumer issues and rogue traders, but the approach which is being made to investors is from a bunch of scammers. They have an email address which uses the domain name of ctsi-uk.com. This domain name was purchased on 14th June 2022.
We have come across several scams over the years where scammers pretend to be from The Insolvency Service, or Trading Standards, or HMRC, or another reputable body. The aim is always to persuade victims of scams to part with more money.
The genuine Chartered Trading Standards Institute website can be viewed on this – LINK. It does not use the domain of ctsi-uk.com and it never gets involved in requesting proof of debt forms for insolvent companies.
Here is the email the scammers have been sending out.
From: CTSI UK <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 8 Sept 2022
Subject: Information from Trading Standards
To:
Dear
We write to you today regarding an investment placed into a company currently under investigation. As you are already aware, we have formerly identified and verified you as the sole beneficiary of the unregulated investment you have purchased.
We have attempted to contact you recently to request a return of your proof of creditors debt form, however we have not been able to get in touch with you. Unallocated claims held solely in the proprietor’s name will be forfeited if a representation claim is not made within the next 10 working days. As we move to the final stages of our winding up process, we advise all clients to lodge a claim via our advisory service prior to the completion of the liquidation process.
If you have been receiving numerous phone calls from third party agents offering their services to help assist in trading your asset out of the market or managing the asset on your behalf. We would ask you to be very careful and take additional care when choosing a company to work with to ensure you are dealing with a credible and reliable company based in the UK.
As our attempts to reach you have been to no avail, may we ask that you contact us immediately on 0800 054 1359 and lodge a claim to enable us to assist you in the recuperation of your funds.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Kevin Hargreaves
Investigating Officer
Chartered Trading Standards Institute
Trading Standards Institute
Sylvan Way
Southfields Business Park
BASILDON
SS15 6TH
We love the part where they say “We would ask you to be very careful and take additional care when choosing a company to work with to ensure you are dealing with a credible and reliable company based in the UK”. The sole aim of the email is to get the victim to respond. Once they have the victim on the hook they will appear to be as helpful as possible, but the approach will always end in them asking for money. Don’t pay them because they will run off with your money.
A scam like this will always use a money mule bank account which acts as a sweeper account. The moment the account receives any money it is immediately swept out to another account, usually offshore in a jurisdiction like UAE, the Seychelles or Hong Kong where recovery is virtually impossible. If you have lost money to a scam like this you should report it to Action Fraud using this LINK. If you’re lucky they might look into it.
Chartered Trading Standards Institute – Scam Alert.
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