There is more to being a wealth management service than looking after clients’ pension pots or seeking good investment opportunities on their behalf.
Many times over the years we have been in business, we have found that we are a crucial barrier to our clients being scammed.
‘Of course that won’t be me!’ exclaims the reader, but yet another sorry tale we saw recently has prompted us to issue another sobering warning.
An article on the www.thisismoney.co.uk website entitled ‘My mum lost £30,000 to romance scammers who preyed on her loneliness after my dad died’ offers a very sad insight into how these scammers operate.
In short this lady was a recent widow aged almost 80 and began using online ‘friendship’ sites. A new ‘friend’ in America encouraged her into thinking he was a romantic interest and then of course began asking for money, which she sent.
When she passed away her son discovered she had handed over more than £30,000.
There is a great deal of safety for our clients (or any Firm’s clients) from the simple fact that they – or their elderly or vulnerable relatives or friends – have entrusted their main investment capital to a regulated firm of integrity to look-after it for them, with all the protection which comes alongside that.
Believe us too, £30,000 is one of the smaller such scams which can happen in so many different ways, including all the guile to convince even rocket scientists to part with their funds to some fraudster.
Scammers know how to push your buttons. The more vulnerable you become or even are on a given day, week or month, the easier it is.
Often these are big business, with scammers in other countries having multiple potential ‘fish’ on their hook at any one time.
Ultimately we cannot stop anyone being foolish, but we can ask questions, monitor the apparent pattern which a person may be seeing which can lead to duress or simple fraud and that can also come from family and close friends, sadly.
So, both for ourselves let alone our infirm and ageing relatives and friends, the value of having an entrusted relationship like this can not only be very comforting but the best investment you and they ever make.
On top of that, and without being morbid, it makes life so much easier on death too – and our service offers ongoing guidance and advice on all aspects which can arise – including care funding issues, let alone tax, etc and most of it is with our compliments, within a simple package which includes us looking-after your money for you professionally.
So please don’t let yourself – or family members – be the latest victims, because you can do something about it.
You can also read up online how to avoid scams or recognise if someone you know may be a scam victim. Online resources include https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk plus www.moneyhelper.org.uk offers a guide as does www.ageuk.org.uk.
