Offshore Northwest Bank
The Authority has become aware of a document purporting to come from an entity calling itself Offshore Northwest Bank and having an address of Northwest House, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1AG
The document seen by the Authority was a Letter of Guarantee from the purported bank to the sum of US$96,500,000 and signed by Walter B. Kielholz as Chairman of the Board and a Brady Dougan as Chief Executive Officer. The ‘bank’ offers to release the funds on receipt of an upfront payment of £1000. There is a concern that once that payment had been made, communication with the potential fraudsters would cease.
The Authority wishes to draw attention to the following observations:
The Authority has failed to establish any association between the entity Offshore Northwest Bank and any genuine Isle of Man companies or businesses.
There is no company incorporated in the Isle of Man under the name of Offshore Northwest Bank. It is not registered in the Isle of Man as a company incorporated elsewhere having established a place of business in the Isle of Man. Offshore Northwest Bank is not registered as a business name in the Isle of Man
A search of all genuine companies incorporated, and business names registered in the Isle of Man can be conducted at https://services.gov.im/ded/services/companiesregistry/companysearch.iom
To offer the financial services listed in the aforementioned document if offered in or from the Isle of Man would likely require a licence issued by the Authority. There is no licence holder in the Isle of Man named Offshore Northwest Bank. A search of all entities licensed by the Authority can be found at:
https://www.iomfsa.im/register-search/
Under the circumstances, the Authority is concerned that any person who has engaged in correspondence with Offshore Northwest Bank may potentially become the victim of fraud or it may be an attempt at gaining personal data from the browser in order to steal their identity.
General advice on how to avoid becoming a victim to identity theft and advanced fee frauds can be found on the Action Fraud website at http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ID and http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-advance-fee-fraud respectively.
Any persons who are already involved in any dealings with the potentially fraudulent entity Offshore Northwest Bank should consider notifying their local Police, bringing to their attention the contents of this notice.
Anyone with general concerns concerning any individual or company holding themselves out as conducting a regulated activity in or from the Isle of Man without the requisite licence should contact the Enforcement Division at the Authority on +44 1624 689311 or by e-mail to info@iomfsa.im for advice.