We have become aware that a number of shareholders of Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have recently received unsolicited telephone calls from a company offering to buy the shareholder's VCT shares.
This may seem like a good deal, but will likely come with a request for money up front as a bond or other form of security, which the scammers say they will pay back if the sale does not go ahead.
This is most likely an advance fee scam where you pay money but never hear from the company again. We believe these calls to be part of a ‘boiler room scam’ and VCT shareholders are warned to be very suspicious of these types of calls.
The FCA has produced a flyer alerting investors to what they should be aware of should they receive a fraudulent call; this can be viewed here.
For further information on share fraud and boiler room scams or to report a fraudulent call, please visit the FCA website at:
www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/how-avoid-investment-scams
