Retail investors scammed out of £10m as fraud continues to surge

Reported incidents quadruple since July

Retail investors have now lost almost £10m to large-scale scams in 2020, with the number of savers targeted by fraudsters impersonating legitimate providers of financial products skyrocketing throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the Investment Association (IA) has warned.

Urging retail investors to be "extra vigilant", the IA warned of potential losses owing to scams pushing fake investment products though cloned websites and documentation, which are promoted via fake price comparison websites and adverts on social media and search engines. The IA said in July that an estimated 300 incidences of organised criminals impersonating legitimate vehicles sold by investment management firms had occurred since late 2019, scamming savers out of about £4m, with the figure boosted significantly since the beginning of lockdown. Since then, the IA said the total nu...