Fraudulent Invoice purporting to originate from the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority

The Authority has become aware of a fraudulent invoice carrying the Authority’s logo and contact details prompting recipients to pay funds to the Authority for “notarization of investment agreement” . The payment was to be made in United States Dollars to a collection agent (bank) in the United States of America. The fraudulent invoice is  signed by “Joan C Hudson” purportedly on behalf of the Authority.

 

The Authority wishes to draw attention to the following observations:

 

Joan C Hudson is not employed in any capacity at the Authority.

 

The fraudulent invoice contains a false Authority telephone number (+44 20 3819 0165), a false email address (info@fsa-iom.org) and a false website address (www.fsa-iom.org),  which has been cloned from the Authority’s genuine website. 

 

Steps have been taken to take the cloned website down.

 

Under the circumstances, the Authority is concerned that any person who has accessed the website may potentially become the victim of fraud or it may be an attempt at gaining personal data from the browser in order to steal their identity.

 

General advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft and advanced fee frauds can be found on the Action Fraud website at http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ID and http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-advance-fee-fraud respectively.

 

Any persons who are already involved in any dealings with the potentially fraudulent website or have received bogus invoices purporting to originate from the Authority should consider notifying their local Police, bringing to their attention the contents of this notice.

 

Anyone with general concerns concerning any individual or company holding themselves out as conducting a regulated activity in or from the Isle of Man without the requisite licence should contact the Enforcement Division at the Authority on +44 1624 689311 or by e-mail to enforcement@iomfsa.im for advice.

 

 

Authority Reference:  NR/05/2023 – 20 June 2023