bp has heard reports of some shareholders receiving unsolicited phone calls or correspondence from potential scammers.
Such calls are often from organisations offering to buy the holder’s shares, claiming that the company is subject to an imminent takeover. The caller will often seek to gain personal information and details of the shareholding, such as home address and the number of shares held. They can be very persistent and extremely persuasive.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reported that the average amount lost by an investor due to fraud is around £20,000. It is not just the novice investor that has been duped in this way; many of the victims had been successfully investing for several years.
Shareholders are advised to be very wary of any unsolicited advice or offer to buy shares at a discount. If shareholders receive any unsolicited contact of this nature, they are advised to:
- Make sure you get the correct name of the person and organisation and make a record of any other information they give you, e.g. telephone number, address etc. and if unwanted calls persist, hang up.
- If you receive telephone calls, emails or letters purporting to be from bp or from companies endorsed by bp and you are unsure if they are legitimate, please contact bp for clarification.
- Check that they are authorised before getting involved. If the caller claims to be a UK broker, you can check the FCA register. If the caller claims to be a US broker, or refers to investing in US shares or shares in US companies that are about to float on the stock market but can only be sold to non-US citizens, you can check if they are authorised on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) register. If you deal with an unauthorised firm, you will not be eligible to receive payment under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
- Report the matter to the FCA in the UK or SEC in the US