Sir Richard Branson has spoken out after growing increasingly frustrated by fraudsters claiming that he, or his companies, are involved or invested in them.
Victims have contacted Sir Richard Branson when they have discovered that their investments are worthless or non-existent. The authorities point out that fraudsters often use aggressive sales techniques or names of prominent people or business locations to entice victims to invest.
Action Fraud, the national official fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, reports a large increase in reports of binary options fraud with the number of reports tripling in the last financial year, with the financial losses increasing from £2m to £13m during the same period.
Binary Options are not regulated by the UK’s official watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so investments in them are not protected by the UK’s financial services complaints and compensation scheme. The FCA has issued a warning about fraud linked to the trade. Some countries have banned the trading of binary options.
What is it?
Binary options are a form of fixed-odds betting on movements in financial markets. Typically a trade in binary options involves a simple question of whether an event will happen or not – for example, will the price of a particular share or asset go up. The outcome is either yes or no, hence the term. Fraudsters posing as binary options traders on social networks often use the promise of unrealistically high returns on ‘investments’ to lure potential victims.
Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder, said: “I am determined to prevent anyone being confused into giving money or their personal information away on a false pretence. These scams can be terrifyingly deceptive and I would urge everyone to look out for these stories and report them as soon as you see them.”
Detective Superintendent Glenn Maleary said: “Action Fraud and the City of London Police have seen an increase in binary options fraud in the last two of years. Opportunist fraudsters have taken advantage of an unregulated market and done everything can to defraud unsuspecting investors. Anyone who invests in binary options should be vigilant about who they are trading with and should follow our protection advice to ensure that they don’t fall victim to what is becoming a commonplace investment scam.”
If you think you have been a victim of fraud you should report it to Action Fraud. The City of London Police last year requested the suspension of over 160,000 banks accounts, websites and phone lines suspected of being used to commit fraud.
