Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday’s top researcher, taking on readers’ corners, uncovering the truth that lies behind closed doors and delivering victories for those left out of their own pockets. Below you can read how you can contact him.
MF writes: Have you come across investment company Tradesafer?
They have addresses in Geneva and London, but phone lines appear to go through a call center.
They promise high returns every day and my account shows a profit of £500, but they have ignored several attempts I made to withdraw the money.
Scam: Tradesafer has the audacity to say in its terms and conditions that dealings with customers are governed by UK laws, the same laws that Tradesafer is breaking
Tony Hetherington replies: The is a fraudster. The website tradesafer.com claims: ‘We provide access to a wide range of financial markets, including stocks, currencies, commodities and cryptocurrencies.’
And it adds: ‘Our team of experienced traders and financial experts are always ready to help you with queries, advice and guidance.’
Nice words, but they mean that Tradesafer and its experts need to be authorized and approved by the Financial Conduct Authority – which is not the case.
Despite this, Tradesafer has the audacity to say in its terms and conditions that its dealings with customers are governed by UK laws, the same laws that Tradesafer is breaking.
It even claims to be a British company, with its registered office at 25 Walbrook in the City of London. It isn’t there, of course, and although there are companies with a similar name, there is no Tradesafer Ltd listed at Companies House.
It also uses another city address, at 30 St Mary Ax – the site of the Gherkin skyscraper – but again no trace of it can be found. The confusion increases when you discover that one page of the website states that it is a Swiss company registered in Geneva, while on another page there is a fake UK registration number that actually belongs to a genuine South London company in the building sector.
None of this is surprising, once you accept that this is a scam run by liars. Tradesafer has page after page of promotional material, terms and conditions and legal information, much of it contradictory.
On one page, it offers “the most up-to-date market analysis and recommendations.” On another page, it makes an about-face, warning that “the company is not your advisor or confidant.”
The company then says that it does offer investment recommendations, but it is up to the customer whether or not to accept them. And it disclaims responsibility for the conduct of its own experts, warning: ‘Our market recommendations are based solely on the opinions of our staff,’ adding that Tradesafer itself cannot agree with any advice and accepts no responsibility for any losses.
You gave me a screenshot of your account, taken from Tradesafer’s own site. This shows a profit of €534, a healthy return on your initial investment of just €200. But this was just Tradesafer’s bait to entice you into making a much larger deposit.
When you tried to withdraw funds, Tradesafer’s Jacob Meyer insisted that you make an appointment to discuss it “with one of our liquidity officers.” What kind of international investment firm would need to negotiate the withdrawal of a few hundred pounds?
Against this backdrop, you might wonder why Tradesafer hasn’t attracted the attention of any watchdog that could raise the alarm. Well, it is. Tradesafer’s name, website address and London office address are all on a warning issued a month ago by a financial regulator. Unfortunately, it’s the Australian financial regulator that spotted Tradesafer from the other side of the world when it tried to defraud investors Down Under. Our own Financial Conduct Authority, located just five miles from the addresses used by Tradesafer, appears not to have spotted the crooks yet.
Balance transfer causes confusion
SH writes: In December 2021 I opened a credit account with Sainsbury’s Bank and in January 2022 I asked the bank for a balance transfer of £5,500 to the credit card company MBNA.
This was agreed, and over the next 18 months Sainsbury’s collected direct debits totaling approximately £1,800.
However, Sainsbury’s Bank recently told me that the money had not actually reached MBNA. Where has it gone and why is Sainsbury’s still taking my direct debit payments?
Tony Hetherington replies: You had nothing in writing from Sainsbury’s stating that it had made the transfer and the interest terms on the £5,500 you had borrowed. And you had nothing in writing from MBNA denying that the £5,500 had arrived.
Everything was done by telephone, you told me, and you did not notice for a year and a half that your repayments were incorrect. You then asked Sainsbury’s for a copy of your January 2022 statement, and it did indeed confirm the transfer of £5,500, on which you have been paying interest of around £80 per month since then.
Sainsbury’s staff supported this and told me the transfer had been successful. It’s unclear why you thought it had failed unless you noticed both banks taking payments from you.
The £5,500 did reduce the balance you owed on your MBNA card, but it left you owing the same amount on your Sainsbury’s card. I understand that both banks have now contacted us. Neither bank is at fault.
If you believe you have been a victim of financial misconduct, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, personal answers cannot be given. Only send copies of original documents. Unfortunately, these cannot be returned.
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