Bogus emails - Isle of Man Government Financial Supervision Commission

Bogus emails and documentation purporting to have been sent by the Isle of Man Government Financial Supervision Commission

Advance Fee Fraud

The Commission has recently become aware of bogus emails falsely purporting to originate from an individual who implies, within the emails, that they are associated with the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission.

The Commission has previously issued general advice regarding bogus correspondence falsely purporting to have been issued by genuine Isle of Man institutions.

These recent e-mails seem to be offering loans in return for an “Advance Fee”. Under the circumstances the Commission feels that these emails are 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.

The aforementioned emails are purported to have been sent by Kathryn Lee, Manager – Enforcement, Financial Supervision Commission, PO Box 58, Finch Hill House, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1DT

The genuine Financial Supervision Commission is an independent statutory body responsible for the licensing and supervision of banks, building societies, investment business, collective investment schemes and corporate and trust service providers in the Isle of Man. The Commission is also responsible for the Companies Registry which incorporates companies and registers documents required to be filed under the Companies Acts and related legislation.

There is a genuine Commission employee who was formerly known as Kathryn Lee until the beginning of July. The genuine individual formerly known as Kathryn Lee was and remains a Manager in the Enforcement Division of the Commission. The Commission can categorically state that the aforementioned e-mails have NOT originated from, nor have they been issued with the knowledge of the genuine employee formerly known as Kathryn Lee.

The e-mails seen by the Commission give a telephone number of 00 44 70 240 699 43. This number does not relate to lines on the Isle of Man.

In connection with the aforementioned e-mails the Commission has also become aware of documentation that claims to be a “Certificate of Deposit”. This “Certificate of Deposit” claims to certify that the individual “…has a FIxed Cash deposite of US$10,800,000:00 with this Bank (Bank of Scotland isle of Man International) on a domicillary interest rate of 0.001 per six (6) months on a bank account number 24157008 and security Code ZTT104045E and shall only be release official according to the Financial supervision Commission Inspection policy at the time of demand.” (sic)

This “Certificate of Deposit” fraudulently contains the Isle of Man Government Financial Supervision Commission’s logo as it appears on the Commission’s website.

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

There is a genuine entity by the name of Bank of Scotland International Ltd operating from the Isle of Man. Bank of Scotland International Ltd is licensed by the Commission to undertake banking business.

A list of all institutions licensed by the Commission is available on our website at www.fsc.gov.im.

The genuine Bank of Scotland International Ltd is NOT in any way connected to the aforementioned e-mails or documentation.

We can also categorically state that we, the genuine Financial Supervision Commission, are not in any way connected to this document. In addition, the Commission has not in any way approved or consented to the use of its logo within this document.

For you information please see explanatory notices issued by the Commission regarding Advance Fee Frauds and Identity Theft.

Also see information issued by the Isle of Man Office of the Data Protection Supervisor.

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

Any persons who are already involved in any dealings resulting from the above emails and who have concerns should contact the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689314 or by email to fsc@gov.im.

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

Any persons who have concerns whether correspondence, purporting to emanate from Kathryn Lee of the Enforcement division of the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission, is genuine and wish to query it, may wish to contact the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689314 or by email to fsc@gov.im

FSC Reference: CD/20/2007