The Financial Services Commission has again received a number of reports
from Gibraltar residents that they have recently received unsolicited
telephone calls (seemingly from persons purporting to be operating from
Japan) in which they are promised a guaranteed 35% return on their
investment on the condition that a minimum of US$5,000 is invested.
The public is reminded that they should not respond to such offers unless
and until they have checked whether the person trying to interest them in
shares, or any investments, represents a reputable investment firm that is
suitably authorised. They should always ask for details about the firm, and
then make their own enquiries about it. They should not rely on websites
controlled by the firm itself, as there is little policing of what appears
on the Internet.
A salesperson should be willing to say where his or her company is
authorised. Regulators in most jurisdictions give details of the companies
they have authorised on their websites, or they will be willing to provide
this information over the telephone. If a caller is unwilling to give
relevant information on request, he/she should be treated with suspicion.
A caller may use "hard sell" tactics, such as claiming that a special
opportunity will be lost if a purchase is not made immediately. Or he/she
may promise high returns to get the consumer to invest in a particular
product, or buy shares. The customer may later find out that the product
does not exist, or that the particular shares are practically worthless.
Such "hard selling" is not practised by reputable firms. Investors should
be wary of a deal that sounds too good to be true - it usually will be!