Reporting and combatting fraud

Fighting fraud

Fraud is an ever-evolving threat that affects individuals and organisations alike. Whether it's through phishing emails, impersonation scams, or sophisticated cyber attacks, fraudsters are constantly developing new tactics to exploit vulnerabilities.

At Rathbones, we take this threat seriously and are committed to helping our clients stay informed, vigilant, and protected. We work alongside the guidance from regulators and other bodies such as the National Crime Agency to put measures in place to help guard your assets against fraud.

This page is designed to give you clear, practical guidance on how to recognise and respond to fraud. From understanding the different types of scams to learning how we safeguard your accounts and what you can do to protect yourself, each section offers actionable advice and support. If you suspect fraudulent activity or simply want to strengthen your defences, you’ll find everything you need right here.

How to report a fraud or something suspicious

If you think you've become a victim of fraud or you spot suspicious activity on your account, please report it straight away.

Step 1

Step 2

In the UK

Contact Report Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime:

In Scotland

Contact Police Scotland by calling 101.

In the Channel Islands

In Guernsey:

Call Guernsey Police on +44 (0) 1481 725111.

In Jersey:

Call Jersey Police on +44 (0) 1534 612612, or
Use the 'Report' form on Jersey Police's website.

We'll never ask you for security information or to transfer money

We pride ourselves on getting to know our clients personally – our Investment Managers will never cold call, ask you confidential security information such as online passwords or encourage you to move money to another account. We take a proactive and personalised approach to client engagement and will call to verify unusual or unexpected requests.

A secure digital connection to your Investment Manager is available via MyRathbones.

Learn more about MyRathbones, including how to register for it

Fraud information from the authorities

Types of fraud

Unfortunately, there are numerous types of frauds. Both Report Fraud and UK Finance, via the "Take Five to Stop Fraud" campaign, each maintain a list of fraud types on their respective websites.

Open the Report Fraud website

Open UK Finance’s Take Five website

Warning list of unauthorised firms in the UK

The FCA maintains a list of unauthorised firms and individuals that they're aware of, that aren’t allowed to operate in the UK.

Visit the FCA's dedicated webpage

International investor alerts

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) maintains a list of firms that are not authorised to provide investment services in the jurisdiction that issued the alert or warning.

Open IOSCO's Investor Alerts Portal

How can you prevent fraud?

We've included a number of actions you can take to reduce the chances of becoming a victim of fraud. If you're ever unsure, please contact your Investment Management or Financial Planning contact at Rathbones.

Be aware of someone impersonating Rathbones

Our staff will tell you they're contacting you from Rathbones, but fraudsters can too.

By adding official-looking logos, registration details and company numbers, these well-crafted deceptions give the impression that everything is right. If you’re not sure, call your local Rathbones office, and never use phone numbers supplied by the person you’re suspicious of. You can also access our contact details by searching 'Rathbones' on the FCA's Firm Checker website.

Remember – do not disclose any security details, and if you are told there is a deadline or a matter of urgency, then hang up and call us.

Do not disclose confidential information

With online fraud, a fraudster will usually trick people into disclosing their passwords, log-in details or other confidential information.

You can protect yourself by:

Not disclosing confidential information over the phone unless you're absolutely sure of the caller's identity. If in doubt, ask for the caller's phone number and check it to see that it's genuine. If you think someone is trying to trick you intro handing over money or personal details – stop, hang up and call 159 to speak directly to your bank. This service works in the same way as 101 for the police or 111 for the NHS – more information is available by clicking here.
Avoid sending confidential information by email. It can easily be intercepted by a third party, and companies such as Rathbones will never ask you to email sensitive information.
Keep your login details confidential at all times and consider using a password manager.

Check bank details given to you for transferring money to

Fraudsters often steal money by tricking you into transferring funds to them when you believe you are transferring it to someone else. This is often termed an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam, where the victim is duped into transferring money to an account they are made to think is genuine, but is actually controlled by a fraudster.

The risk of this happening to you increases when you make a payment to a new beneficiary for the first time, or if an existing beneficiary tells you they have changed their account details.

Always check the bank details you are given for making transfers, this can include the following:

Call a known or independently-sourced number to confirm the bank account details and ensure that your payment will be sent to the intended beneficiary.
Use your bank's Confirmation of Payee tool to corroborate the name on the account. Find out more about this on UK Finance's website.
Don’t call a number in the body of the email - fraudsters can change this.
If you’re paying someone for the first time, split the payment into smaller amounts and ensure the first payment has been received by the intended beneficiary before sending the remaining funds.

Protect your devices

Be cautious of anyone claiming your account has been compromised

Typically a courier card scam involves customers being tricked into handing over their bank cards and PINs to fraudsters.

The scam starts with an unexpected phone call from someone claiming to be from the bank's fraud department, the police, or National Fraud Authority.

The caller will claim to have identified fraudulent transactions on your account and that your card has been compromised.

To gain your trust they may ask you to verify the call by phoning the telephone number printed on the back of your card, or give you another number to call.

This technique holds your phone line open, so that when you try to dial out, they can intercept and re-answer the call, claiming to be the Bank or Law Enforcement.

The fraudster will advise that your bank card must be collected to protect your card and assist an investigation. Usually they ask you to put your card into an envelope for a courier to collect and provide you with a fake reference number.

Now you'll be asked to enter your PIN into the phone, or put it into the envelope with the card. A courier comes to your home and collects the card. With your card and PIN, they can now gain access to your account and carry out fraudulent transactions.

PLEASE NOTE: We may genuinely call you for fraud prevention purposes to verify whether a transaction is genuine. We will NEVER ask for your log-in credentials.

Protect your email account from hacking and fraud

Email is now critical to your day-to-day activities and is used for more than simply communicating with friends and colleagues. For example, you may use your email to:

Store receipts and statements
Store the registration information for purchased software
Assist with the recovery of password for websites
Store details about airline and hotel bookings, with passport and ID information
Receive confirmation of financial transactions

Your email account is now immensely valuable and needs to be protected from loss or theft by criminals, who use a variety of techniques to try and steal the password to access your account:

Guessing simple passwords
Tricking you to enter your password into a fake site (this is called credential harvesting)
Installing a virus on your computer to capture the password as you log in using public/free Wi-Fi.

To protect your email account from being stolen, you can take some simple steps:

Use a strong password: A dictionary word used for a password can be ‘brute forced’ in seconds. Longer passwords are stronger — a string of three random words, paired with the use of a password manager is better than a mix of alpha-numeric characters.
Don’t trust unsolicited emails: And don’t click on the links in unsolicited emails. Criminals often send out emails that look like they came from your bank or wealth manager, with links to fake websites where they capture your passwords as you try to log in.

We will never ask you to enter your username or password via an email. If you do receive a link to log in, it is a fake and an attempt to defraud you.

Never allow someone to take remote access of your computer

Remote access is when someone gains control of a computer, phone, or another device from afar.

A common scenario is you receive an unexpected call from someone claiming to represent your bank, utility provider, online retailer or computer manufacturer. They claim there is an issue with your computer or network that needs to be resolved immediately, and that any delay can be costly or cause damage to your device. They ask you to download software or allow remote access to resolve the problem.

Avoid making rushed financial decisions

Be careful with SMS messages from companies

Text messages (SMS) that impersonate genuine companies such as a tax authority, a postal service or your financial institution are on the rise. They may appear to be genuine, but are designed to steal data or to get you pay them. This is called ‘smishing’ (SMS phishing).

Always remember:

Never click on a link within a text message. Instead, call the organisation on an independently sourced number to confirm if the message is genuine. Don’t call the number in the text message.
If you want to access MyRathbones, do so through the MyRathbones app or through www.rathbones.com. Do not use a website link someone has sent you.
Never respond to a suspicious message.

Be awake to investment scams

In an investment scam, fraudsters will try to convince you to ‘invest’ in an opportunity. This could be in shares, real estate, gold, cryptocurrency, a financial product or another asset.

In order to make the scam appear legitimate, the fraudsters pretend to represent a reputable business like Rathbones.

In an effort to convince you that you are dealing with the actual company they are impersonating, they will often:

Send emails from email addresses that appear to be owned by Rathbones. For example, lewis.forbes@rathbonesfixedincome.com and name@rathbones-im.com have been used by fraudsters before and are fake.
Impersonate members of staff.
Use what appears to be genuine documentation.

Remember:

Legitimate financial institutions and investment companies will never contact you out of the blue, over the phone or by email.
Beware of unsolicited approaches or those where you are pressured to invest by a deadline.
Do not call back a number you have been given. Instead, call back only on a trusted number you can find independently. Always verify your investment over the phone if have been corresponding with your investment manager by email, as email addresses can be hacked.
Brand impersonation fraud is increasingly common. If you have been contacted by email, pay attention to the sending address. For example, Rathbones does not use the domain rathbones-uk.com, securemailbox-rathbones-wealth.com and rathbones-wealth-ltd.com, but scammers do.
Avoid making rushed decisions, and check the FCA's Warning List of unauthorised firms and the International Organization of Securities Commissions Investor Alerts Portal before making any kind of investment.
Do your research and check several websites for investment opportunities. If a product appears on one website only, this might be a scam. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Be wary of cryptocurrency scams

Fraudsters are increasingly marketing lucrative “investments” in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as a way to make money quickly. You may be asked to make a bank transfer to your new “crypto wallet,” after which the fraudsters will disappear with your money and the investment will never materialise.

Protect yourself by following these rules:

Always be aware of the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments.
Do not transfer money to a cryptocurrency wallet that you didn’t set up yourself
Check the FCA warning list to ensure you are not dealing with a fraudulent investment provider

Always call the provider to verify the investment on an independently sourced number, not the one found in an email or documents you have been sent.

How we’re working to prevent fraud

The confidentiality and security of your data and transactions is a priority to Rathbones, with our infrastructure and security measures under constant review to ensure they meet stringent requirements. Find out more about this work below.

Encrypting data

Timed log out

Deactivation of your login details

Two factor authentication

Help from other organisations

Stop! Think Fraud website

The UK Government's source of knowledge and tools to stay ahead of scams.

Visit GOV.UK

Take Five to Stop Fraud

A national campaign that offers advice to help everyone protect themselves from financial fraud.

Visit Take Five's website

ScamSmart Investment Checker

Use the Financial Conduct Authority's online tool to check an investment or pension opportunity you’ve been offered and avoid scams.

Visit the FCA's website

Call 159

Stop Scams UK provides a service where dialling 159 on your phone ensures you get through to your bank safely and securely.

Visit the 159 website

Report Fraud

The UK’s home for reporting cyber crime and fraud.

Visit Report Fraud's website

Victim Support

An independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales.

Visit Victim Support's website

Cifas

The UK's leading fraud prevention service offering individuals and organisations help in combating the growing threat of fraud and financial crime.

Visit the Cifas website

Report a suspicious text

Most phone providers are part of a scheme that allows customers to report suspicious text messages for free by forwarding them to 7726.

Learn more on the National Cyber Security Centre's website

Report a dubious email

If you receive an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to the UK Government's report@phishing.gov.uk service.

Find out more on the National Cyber Security Centre's website

Report a fraud

It's vital you tell us as soon as possible if you think you have been a victim of fraud or your account has been compromised.

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Fraud prevention