Lincolnshire Police have been advised by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau about a growing fraud trend that has been identified. There has been a steady increase in Action Fraud reports recorded in the first half of the year involving fraudulent investments into film productions.

Action Fraud have increasingly recorded crimes from victims all across the UK being targeted by cold callers.

How does it work?

An Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme (UCIS) is a fund into which several people can contribute, in order that it can then be invested into other assets. This may contain risks as it is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Victims have been cold called and offered investments in film productions with various companies that have been cloned or are fraudulent. For example, a call will be received, persuading the victim to invest in shares in a new film production staring famous actors. Often the film production company name is a replica of an existing film company, with a small variation in spelling. Once the victim has transferred the payment online, the suspect organisation can no longer be contacted and the victim does not obtain the promised high returns for their investment. UCIS dedicate money to various enterprises and these schemes cannot be generally promoted to the general public in the UK.

Such schemes are not regulated by the FCA, therefore film production investors are not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Lincolnshire Police advise not responding to such ‘cold calling’ opportunities, as you are likely to lose your money.

If you have been affected by this, or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk

For further advice on fraud, scams and cyber crime contact Lincolnshire Police Crime Reduction Team: crime-reduction@lincs.pnn.police.uk

http://www.lincs.police.uk/News-Centre/News-Releases-2015/Film-Production-Investment-Fraud-.html