Bond crooks pose as real bankers to lure victims

There is a man named William Thomas Daly who works for the American bank Morgan Stanley. You can easily find his details in the Registry of Authorized Persons, monitored by the country’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This registry is designed to assure investors that when buying products or seeking financial advice they are dealing with people and companies they can trust – vetted by the FCA.

But fraudsters are now using openly available data in the register – such as Mr Daly’s – to convince the public that the products they are selling are authentic, when they are nothing but scams.

The good name of Mr. Daly, who works in “client trading” with Morgan Stanley, is being used by a team of fraudsters to push investors into investment bonds supposedly offered by big brands such as energy company Centrica and M&S.

While Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the cloning of its respected employee’s data, it was able to confirm to The Mail on Sunday that the real Mr Daly was not involved – and that the bond offer was a scam.

Investment bond scams have reached epidemic proportions in recent months, with investors receiving emails promising annual interest rates of up to 7.125 percent.

Some people, like Ron Newman (see below), have been bombarded even though they never took up the offers. All bonds would come from well-known brands such as Centrica, EDF Energy, Heathrow and M&S.

The cloning of Mr. Daly’s data was discovered by Doug Brodie, founder and CEO of London-based Chancery Lane, a retirement income firm.

Earlier this month, Brodie was approached by a high net worth client who was about to invest £85,000 in what he thought were Centrica bonds, paying seven per cent interest. By investing £85,000, the client believed his money would be fully protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Brodie immediately advised him to hold fire while he sounded. He read through the paperwork and immediately knew the bond was a scam, albeit an “sophisticated” scam. Still, he wasn’t done yet.

Using the bond purchase agreement his client had received – but had not yet sent the money for – he called the contact number (0800 102 6066) and asked to speak to the person his client had done business with – William Daly. Part of the conversation is published above.

Throughout, the fraudster refused to answer key questions, such as the bank account Brodie’s client should send their money to and Mr. Daly’s email address at Morgan Stanley (proving that he works for the bank).

But he tried to convince Brodie that he was an FCA authorized person by providing details of his registration. Fortunately, Brodie’s customer did not go through with the purchase.

But Brodie says more needs to be done urgently to protect investors. He told the MoS on Friday: “My complaint is not just about the fraudsters who need to be hunted down.

“It is also critical that the banks that issue the accounts that fraudsters use to receive money do more to investigate applicants and detect criminal activity.”

The phone number used by the fraudsters is provided by an outfit called DIDWW, based in Ireland.

It markets itself as a platform for ‘telecom professionals’. Website who-called.co.uk says the number has been “identified as an investment scam.”

The FCA told the MoS: ‘Clone investment scams can look real, so it’s important to check every detail. If you’re still unsure, call our helpline (0800 111 6768) for more information.’

On Friday, DIDWW said the number the fraudsters were using has been “permanently suspended.”

The FOUR “big names” sent to 85-year-old Ron

Since the beginning of last month, businessman Ron Newman has been the target of fraudsters who want to take money from him.

While he’s never been tempted — he’s too smart for that — the 85-year-old worries that others who get the same bond offers could be duped.

“The bond deals look amazingly real,” he says, “and could fool a lot of people into losing their money.”

In recent weeks, Ron, who lives in Shepperton, Surrey with his wife Joyce, has offered ‘bonds’ from Heathrow, M&S, Centrica and EDF Energy. All sent by email.

All of them promise to pay generous fixed interest rates – up to 7.125 percent – ​​and are green-friendly attire.

In some cases, Ron has also received “come-ons,” urging him not to miss anything due to the “high volume of signups.”

The latest bond offer he received was reportedly from EDF Energy and promised an annual fixed interest rate of up to 6.95 percent. An avid golfer, Ron made his living selling clothing and equipment to bocce players. He’s now comfortably off and he’s giving short shrift to offers that are too good to be true. But he wishes that such mailings could be restricted.

All four companies whose data was cloned told the MoS that they knew about the fraudulent bonds.

Heathrow said its cyber-fraud team had been alerted, while Centrica said it had taken action to take down the website behind the fraudulent bond.