Bogus emails and documentation purporting to have been sent by Zurich Bank International Limited

Published on: 05 February 2009

This notice is issued by the Financial Supervision Commission (“the Commission”) in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Section 30 of the Financial Services Act 2008.

Bogus emails and documentation purporting to have been sent by Zurich Bank International Limited

The Commission has recently become aware of bogus emails falsely purporting to originate from individuals that are associated with Zurich Bank International Limited.

The Commission has previously issued general advice regarding bogus correspondence falsely purporting to have been issued by genuine Isle of Man institutions. The earlier advice may be read on the following link /lib/docs/iomfsa/PublicWarnings/bogusLetters.pdf

These e-mails are looking for “an experienced business person/company that can profitably investment monies in excess of Ten Million British Pound Sterling outside Russia” (sic). 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 a Jessica Ferguson, Company Secretary, Zurich Bank International Limited, 43-51 Athol Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM99 1ET, British Isles. Within the email it also states that you can request immediate information from: Mr. Mark Waterhouse, Head of Banking – at the same address.

There is a genuine entity by the name of Zurich Bank International Limited, which is licensed by the Commission, but is in no way connected or associated with the above bogus emails.

There are genuine Zurich Bank International Limited employees by the names Jessica Ferguson and Mark Waterhouse. The Commission can categorically state that the aforementioned emails have NOT originated from, nor have they been issued with the knowledge of the genuine employees Jessica Ferguson and Mark Waterhouse.

The emails seen by the Commission give a telephone and a fax number, both of which are not genuine Isle of Man numbers.

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

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

http://www.iomfsa.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/iomfsa/westafricanfraud.xml&menuid=11570)

http://www.iomfsa.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/iomfsa/identitytheft.xml&menuid=11570)

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

http://www.gov.im/lib/news/odps/yourinformationy.xml

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 may have any concerns as to whether or not they are dealing with the genuine Zurich Bank International Limited may wish to satisfy themselves by contacting the genuine Zurich Bank International Limited. Genuine contact details are available at: http://www.zurich.com/zurichbankinternational/home/home.htm.

FSC Reference: CD/02/2009