The FCA has warned that scammers have cloned a popular Schroders’ fund and are trying to con investors out of their money.
Scammers have set up a cloned version of the Schroders Income Growth fund (SCF) plc to lure investors into transferring their money.
The genuine Schroders fund has £220m invested and is a popular investment trust with a 20 year track record. Its strong dividend record makes it a regular choice for income investors.
While many fraudsters try to clone, or copy, a financial company website by setting up fake versions it is rare for them to clone an individual fund.
Many financial services companies have become the victims of clone attacks, including in recent times several Financial Planning firms.
On most days this week the FCA has issued a dozen warnings on cloned and scam financial firms.
The FCA said of the cloned Schroder fund: “Fraudsters are using the details of firms we authorise to try to convince people that they work for a genuine, authorised firm. This firm is not authorised or registered by us but has been targeting people in the UK, claiming to be an authorised firm.”
The watchdog said it believed fraudsters may try to cold people to convince them to invest via the fake website. The FCA said the fraudsters may even use the name of the genuine firm, the ‘firm reference number’ (FRN) or other details. Scammers may also give out other false details or mix these with some correct details of the registered firm.
They may change contact details over time to new email addresses, telephone numbers or physical addresses.
The bogus website details are:
Schroder Income Growth (Clone of FCA Authorised Firm)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.schroderincomegrowth.com
The genuine firm details are:
Firm Name: Schroder Investment Management Limited
Firm Reference Number: 119348
Address: 1 London Wall Place
London, EC2Y 5AU, UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: 442076586000
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://www.schroders.com/
The FCA urged investors potentially approached by the scammers to only deal with financial firms that are authorised by the FCA and to check the Financial Services (FS) Register.
If a firm does not appear on the FS Register but claims it does, investors can contact the FCA Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
