Smith Williams - Advance Fee Fraud

The Commission has recently become aware of correspondence received by members of the Public purporting to have been sent by the above named individual.

Within the correspondence, which is printed on paper purporting to originate from “HSBC Bank, Ridgeway Street, IM99 1BU, Douglas, Isle of Man, British Isles”, the above named individual claims to be “Director, Wire Department” of such bank.

The correspondence claims that the bank are holding substantial funds amounting to many millions of dollars from a client in Spain of which the recipient of the correspondence is purported to be the beneficiary.

The correspondence contains the following purported telephone and fax numbers of the bank:

Telephone:

Fax:

The Commission wishes to draw attention to the following observations regarding the aforementioned correspondence:

There are genuine holders of Isle of Man Banking Licences called HSBC Bank International Limited and HSBC Bank PLC both with a genuine address in Ridgeway Street, Douglas , Isle of Man. Details of all licence holders of the Commission (which include other HSBC companies) are available on our website.

There is no “Director, Wire Department” or other employee by the name of Smith Williams now or formerly employed by the genuine HSBC Bank International Limited, HSBC Bank PLC or any other HSBC company on the Isle of Man.

The correspondence referred to above did not originate from the Genuine HSBC Bank International Limited, HSBC Bank PLC or any other HSBC company on the Isle of Man.

The telephone and fax numbers quoted on the correspondence and listed above are not Isle of Man numbers. None of the numbers quoted relates to the genuine HSBC Bank International Limited, HSBC Bank PLC or any other HSBC company on the Isle of Man.

Under the circumstances the Commission feels that this correspondence is being issued to either tempt the recipient into becoming the victim of an Advance Fee Fraud.

or are an attempt at gaining personal data from the recipient in order to steal their identity.

Under the circumstances the Commission would encourage people receiving correspondence matching the above description to refrain from responding to it in any way.

Any persons who are already involved in any dealings resulting from correspondence matching the above description and have concerns should contact the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689313 or by email to fsc@gov.im .

Any persons who have paid out funds in relation to correspondence matching the above description or who have provided personal financial details in relation to correspondence matching the above description should consider contacting their local police fraud unit without delay.

FSC reference: JPM/11/2006