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Positive Lending cloned by fraudsters

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  • 21/08/2017
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Positive Lending cloned by fraudsters
Fraudsters have cloned the Positive Lending brand to carry out financial scams in Europe.

The lender said it had become aware that fraudsters are using its logo, staff names and new Ringwood head office address to promote loan offers in Euros to consumers overseas.

At present, it appears this particular scam is only targeting consumers in Europe, offering fake loan agreements and gathering fees in Euros.

There have been no reports of UK consumers being targeted and Positive said its partners were not at risk.

 

Regulators warned

Positive reported the cloning to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and National Crime Agency (NCA), providing them with as much supporting information as possible.

The FCA advised Positive to include warning notices on its website and the regulator will also be posting a cloning warning on its register.

The fraudsters purport to have offices in London, Liverpool and Italy and Positive has been made aware of four instances of consumers being targeted by the fraudsters masquerading as it.

Feedback from these consumers suggested other companies and websites were also being cloned in this manner.

 

Growing trend

Positive Lending compliance director Alec Wimbleton (pictured) said: “The cloning of companies is proving to be increasingly problematic, with growing numbers of genuinely authorised firms being targeted.

“We were shocked to hear that our company had been cloned. We are taking advice from the FCA and will continue to report any further instances of fraudulent behaviour.

“I would ask that, as an industry, if anyone receives emails or calls from consumers abroad – investigate immediately, do not assume they are spam – it could be a consumer seeking help,” he added.

Positive was founded in 2008 and is based in Ringwood, Hampshire.

It assists more than 3,000 intermediaries a year with specialist loan enquiries and has helped arrange thousands of loans exceeding £1bn since being formed.

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