Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in impersonating financial institutions in an effort to defraud unwitting investors, with Barrenjoey the latest company to issue warnings.
Barrenjoey Capital Partners was formally launched in 2020 with foundation investors Magellan and Barclays. The investment bank now tops the list of M&A advisers in this market.
The company’s fixed-yield bond products have been targeted with a fake email scam to individuals using information about the firm and then listed bond investments according to The Australian Financial Review.
Barrenjoey has since posted this warning on their website:
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“Barrenjoey does not offer investment products to members of the public and does not have any connection to anyone offering these products.
The AFR says that the fraudulent email pitch states the following:
“Your high street bank will currently only offer you between 0.7%-1.5% on a newly issued bond of between 1-5 years,” states the fraudulent pitch.
“However, we provide higher returns by eliminating much of the red tape and fees that are associated with high street banks. Instead, we charge a standard broker fee and pass the remaining savings on to our clients with higher returns.”
Financial institutions and ASIC have been issuing a steady stream of warnings as the fixed-income market and associated investments have become a preferred target for scammers globally.
In May, it was reported that an NSW family had lost $500,000 through an elaborate scam involving a fake ANZ bonds investment website.
Scammers are pretending to be from well-known financial services firms and inviting people to invest in fake environmentally sustainable green bonds, corporate watchdog ASIC has warned.
