The Financial Conduct Authority is issuing regular warnings and high profile lender Aldermore Bank was forced to take action against a website ripping off its brand this year.
So, at a time when trust in financial services is desperately needsd, how much of a threat do clone firms pose to the mortgage industry?
For this week’s Marketwatch, our commentators are:
Netmonita director Tim Waring, who says even small firms need to be alert if they have a distinctive brand
Redfern Design creative director Stuart Redfern, who recommends firms register trade names and own their own web domains
LMS chief executive Andy Knee, who calls on brokers to raise awareness among consumers of fraudster clones
Tim Waring, director, Netmonita
The clone sites designed to dupe Internet browsers are likely to be most effective when they incorporate the brand name in the domain name. They may use the legitimate company’s logo on the web pages, similar addresses and web page colours and design. They may also set up similarly misleading accounts on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to attempt to increase visitor traffic to the website.
Clone sites need to build traffic and visibility to generate significant traffic and revenues. However, mortgage and financial advisory clone sites may be lucrative even with very low traffic. Depending on the level of severity of their fraud, they may quickly close the site and pop up a new one cloning another brand.
Being vigilant for clone sites is a challenge particularly for small providers as occurrences of clone sites are likely to be very infrequent. However, if they have a distinctive brand name then monitoring for new domain registrations should be a high priority and is straightforward to do. Any new registered domains can then be watched in case they are used for a clone site.
For more established brands, the risk of clones is higher and warrants proactive web monitoring for use of their brand both within domain names and on webpages. In addition, due to the risk of phishing attacks they may seek to take action on some domain names which do not have an active website to prevent them being used for email accounts in phishing attacks.
Stuart Redfern, creative director, Redfern Design
Your brand is a ‘promise of an experience’ – it sets up expectations in the minds of your clients and customers and it will distinguish yourself from your competitors. Owning a distinctive brand or trade mark is the first step towards protecting yourself from being misrepresented in the course of trade to your clients. Your brand can be represented by words, logos or a combination of both.
Fortunately intellectual property rights provide legal protection for the visual and therefore important aspects of a brand. In the UK the only way you can register your trade mark is by applying to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). They can advise you on the best ways to make sure your brand is protectable by law.
The IPO guidelines stipulate trade marks are acceptable if they are: “Distinctive for the goods and services you provide. In other words they can be recognised as signs that differentiate your goods or service as different from someone else’s.”
The key word is ‘distinctive’ and consulting a good branding agency at the very outset of creating your brand will ensure the IPO criteria is met and that additionally clients will recognise you again and again.
Lastly, own your web domain name too. Buy all reasonable permutations of your web domain and prevent an unscrupulous person from passing themselves off on the internet with a similar sounding domain.
Andy Knee, chief executive, LMS
Clone firms are rife across an array of other industries – it therefore comes as no surprise to us that this activity is becoming increasingly common in the mortgage industry.
Usually fraudsters do not set up clone companies to conduct business but rather with the intention of taking money and vanishing into the ether.
Brokers, therefore, need to encourage consumers to be extremely cautious and ensure that they thoroughly carry out their research before giving their money to anyone. It is an easy mistake to make and there is not always the security of compensation.
From law firms to golf clubs – impersonation occurs throughout a range of businesses and the industry must be increasingly vigilant as new arenas are infiltrated.
