UK investment fraud reports jump by a third as criminals exploit COVID pandemic - Yahoo Canada Finance | Canada News Media
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UK investment fraud reports jump by a third as criminals exploit COVID pandemic – Yahoo Canada Finance

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People aged 55 and over, with access to their retirement funds, fell victim to investment scams with offers of outlandish returns. Photo: Getty

Reports of investment fraud in the UK climbed 32% as criminals sought to capitalise on the coronavirus pandemic by tailoring scams to fit changing lifestyles.

Losses from these scams rose 42% to £135.1m ($186m) last year, with people of all ages targeted, while “authorised” fraud losses increased 5% to £479m, UKFinance reported.

In particular, people aged 55 and over, with access to their retirement funds, fell victim to investment scams with offers of outlandish returns.

Impersonation scam cases, where fraudsters pretend to be from trusted organisations such as the NHS or government departments, also nearly doubled to nearly 40,000 cases since the start of the health crisis.

UKFinance added that criminals were also adapting to the rise in online shopping and remote working by impersonating parcel delivery companies, e-commerce platforms or broadband providers.

“In a year when coronavirus and the national lockdown led to a surge in vulnerability in the UK, the spike in scams was predictable but nonetheless shocking,” Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, said.

“If you are tempted by an online offer of this nature, or are contacted out of the blue by someone you don’t know about your pensions and investments, display extreme caution and be sure not to hand over your money without checking you are dealing with a bona fide, regulated organisation.

“Failure to do so could result in your money being stolen and your retirement dreams going up in smoke.”

READ MORE: Online scams skyrocket as toll reaches £1.7bn in a year

Bank staff on the frontline have been working throughout the pandemic to protect customers from fraud and to help the police catch those responsible.

The industry stopped £1.6bn of unauthorised fraud losses in 2020, data showed, equivalent to £6.73 in every £10 of attempted fraud being stopped.

Bank branch employees are trained to spot the signs of fraud that suggest customers may have fallen victim to one of these scams and make emergency calls to the police. The Banking Protocol, the bank branch rapid response scheme that stopped £45.3 million of scams last year, is now being expanded to include online and telephone banking.

In addition, the banking industry funded Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit arrested over 100 fraudsters during the year, including criminals involved in COVID-19 scams, the report said.

READ MORE: ‘I take responsibility’ for failure to stop £236m ‘suspected fraud’, says Bank of England chief

It comes as half of the UK adult population show characteristics of vulnerability including poor health, low financial resilience or recent negative life events.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has previously said that COVID-19 has had a severe impact on financial resilience of Brits, with over a quarter of adults (some 14.2 million people) being labelled as having ‘low financial resilience’.

“Depressingly, this uncertainty and distress is like catnip to scammers, who use increasingly sophisticated tactics to prey on the vulnerable,” Selby adds.

“The political response to this ever-present but evolving threat is often piecemeal, in part because the issues span different areas of Government. The decision to not include financial scams in the Online Safety Bill, for example, has been met by understandable incredulity by campaigners.

“Given the rising incidence of scams, we believe there is a strong case to be made for creating a Minister for Scam Prevention role.

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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