THE COMMISSION

INTERNET SCAMS

You should take special care before entering into any commitment in respect of financial services (eg, investment offers, banking, insurance and fiduciary services) offered via the internet.

Whilst most of the financial services offered on the internet are genuine, there are some that are not. To avoid becoming the victim of a scam on the internet, try and verify the identity of the advertising institution from an independent source. For example, you might wish to check with the institution's regulator.

If you suspect that a financial service offered via the internet is not genuine and it appears to have a Jersey connection, please contact us so that we can investigate. All information received will be treated in strict confidence.

There are three very common internet scams:

Illegal websites
These websites 'clone' the identity of genuine websites. Very often the 'www' address is very similar to that of the genuine financial institution whose identity has been cloned; the genuine institution's logo, and the names of its senior personnel, may even appear on the illegal website.

These illegal websites are often designed to induce unwary investors to transfer funds into the fraudsters' bank account or to get investors to give away personal information that could be used for fraudulent purposes.

If you are in any doubt as to the genuineness of a website, identify the institution's regulator and check directly with that regulator that the institution is properly authorised to conduct the financial services business it is offering through the website.

The Commission has come across a number of these illegal websites and has issued public statements to warn of their existence. These public statements can be viewed by clicking here. It should be borne in mind that even when we are successful in closing down an illegal website, it can soon reappear by changing its internet service provider and the internet address used.

Advanced fee fraud
This will take the form of an unsolicited email which arrives in your in-box. It offers you a fortune if you will discreetly help the sender of the email to transfer millions of pounds out of their country. The need to do this is often blamed on a tragedy that has occurred in that country, for example, a coup or a disaster of some sort.

You will be asked to send details of your bank account and an administration fee to start the transaction. You will be told that when the transfer of funds is made you will receive a percentage of it and become an instant millionaire. The truth is there are no millions; the administration fee will be taken by the fraudsters and you are unlikely ever to recover it.

Another version of an advanced fee fraud involves fake lottery winnings. These take the form of an unsolicited email which states that you have won a prize in a lottery. To receive the prize you are requested to open an account with a named (fictitious) bank and send in an administration fee to get the prize money released. The reality is there is no prize money - your administration fee disappears into the hands of the fraudsters. The Commission has issued a number of public statements concerning this type of fraud. These public statements can be viewed by clicking here.

Personal Information Theft
This will take the form of an unsolicited email which appears to come from your bank. It asks you "for security purposes" to respond to the email confirming what password/ codeword, or similar, you use to operate your bank account. The email may also ask for additional identifying information such as a date of birth.

The reality is that the email will not have come from your bank but from a fraudster. If you supply the information requested, the fraudster will attempt to use the information to steal money from your bank account.

Genuine banks never ask their customers to provide their password or similar information by replying to an email.

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