What to do if you’ve been scammed into buying carbon credits as an investment

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By Chris Lang

Over the past 18 months, REDD-Monitor has written a series of posts about companies selling carbon credits as investments. From the comments it’s clear that a large number of people have been taken in by the scam and many have handed over their life savings.

In the discussions following these posts, there has been some repetition of advice about what to do if you have bought carbon credits. This is an attempt to collect that information in one place. There may be more options and I’ll update the post as necessary.

Before taking any action, you need to acknowledge that you are the victim of a scam. If you’re having difficulty with this, please read this presentation. In it, Andrew Ager, ex-head of carbon and emissions at Bache Commodities, explains to the City of London Police why carbon credits are not suitable as investments.

Acknowledging that you are the victim of a scam is in itself is not easy. But having done so, it is very important that you do not give in. There are several things that you can do. At the very least you will help stop other people from becoming victims of the same scam.

  1. Contact Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040 or via the website. It is essential that you give them as much information as possible. They get an awful lot of calls, but the more calls they get from people who are victims of carbon credit fraud, the more likely they are to take action.
  2. Also contact your Local Police, who may have their own Economic Crime Directorate or Specialist Fraud Team.
  3. Contact the Financial Conduct Authority: 0800 111 6768 or via the website. As well as reporting the company or companies involved ask them for advice about next steps.
  4. Tell your Member of Parliament that you believe you are the victim of a fraud. Ask her or him what they are doing to regulate voluntary carbon markets and what they are doing to stop the fraudulent selling of carbon credits.
  5. Contact your bank. Also contact the bank to which the money was transferred. Tell them you believe you are the victim of a fraud. Ask them whether they will submit a Suspicious Activity Report to the National Crime Agency.
  6. If you paid the money to a firm of solicitors, complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

In addition there are two things you should not do:

  1. Once your name and contact details are in the hands of boiler rooms you can expect to receive phone calls or emails offering a myriad of wonderful investment opportunities. Do not take advice from anyone who rings out of the blue. No respectable financial firm would cold call you with “investment” opportunities. To do so would be a serious breach of Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority regulations.
  2. Do not hand over more money to companies who claim that they can sell your credits, no matter how convincing they sound. That is the Recovery Room part of the scam.

 

252 thoughts on “What to do if you’ve been scammed into buying carbon credits as an investment”

  1. Recent reports on bbc,sky,and guardian news 4/11/13.avail on web.19 firms shut down recently sellng ver’s….defrauding people…the amount of money involved is horrific,£24m.if this isnt major fraud,what the hell is? we’re out 48k!
    I’ve reported to action fraud,spoken to my local police fraud office,written to my MP ,also written to the PMs office.where does one turn for any satisfaction – it would go a long way to satisfy me if these swine all got 20 years,or better still line em up and i’ll pull the trigger!

  2. Hi Chris

    We’ve recently been contacted by a company called Spencer & Elstein, who operate from 42 Old Broad Street, London. I seem to recognise this address as many cold callers seem to be based here. Their latest offer to us is that if we give them £1500 as a management fee, they will trade our VCR’s which we spent £10500 with different companies that are now in liquidation, and S & E are offering to get us £15000 in return plus offer to give us back our management fee. I have looked at this company on “Companies House” and they have only been trading for 9 months

    I think this is certainly too good to be true.

  3. @kay – Spencer & Elstein is running a Recovery Room scam. Please re-read the short list of things not to do if you’ve been scammed into buying carbon credits.

    No reputable company would contact you out of the blue. 30 seconds on Spencer & Elstein’s website reveals that the products they are selling (fine wines and rare earth metals) are also typical boiler room products. The company was registered in January 2013 and its sole director is 24 years old. “Too good to be true” is a euphemism.

  4. My partner & I have also been contacted by Spencer & Elstein, with an offer to exchange our land investments (with Century land group,formerly of Tower 42) for gold bullion equivilent to what we paid for the land.First we would have to make an investment of £5000 with them, & this would be in the form of a gold bar, held in our name in a sub-account of Spencer & Elstein. They even claimed they could develope the land of all Century Land’s clients & would be able to compulsorily purchase any land belonging to people who did not go in with their offer at a much lower price! Which all sounds ridiculous, so we did’n’t go ahead with it.

  5. I have also received a call from Spencer& Elstein. They have offered £60,000 for the portfolio of carbon credits only asking for a £2,000 handling fee, which is refundable minus 5%. When asked what company they would sell the carbon to, they replied Marks and Spencers. What companies are genuine?!

  10. @Alan Dongworth – Can you provide a few more details, please. Do you have a website address? Did they ring you? Are they asking for an advance fee to sell your carbon credits?

  11. I have also been contacted by China development finance corporation – their website is above – contact name of Chris Korn, claiming to be CFO. Be very interested in finding out if they are legit..I’m assuming not at this stage, they haven’t asked for money, but have asked for a bank account to wire funds to..

  13. are there any non-scam companies who will sell my carbon credits ??????????????????????????????????

  16. Cold called by Carter & Campbell asset portfolio management – claimed they had tracked my credits via the register!( thought that under the DPA private details like home phone were protected without my permission!) all very nice made the point that would not pay to sell, did not seem to be a problem Phoned recently to offer £14.75 per credit. Asked for everything in writing, two weeks later an agreement arrived with an invoice for 10% of the sale price up front refundable within 7 days of the sale but with no explanation of why
    Anyone else approached by this company?

  19. thanks for your reply- yes carbon-expert.com – they have approached me re my carbon credits – initially started at 5-10 k to invest in ‘the wealth advisory’ – now are offering to take on one of my holdings for 1k which will get me in the door of the exit queue – then look at others later – also hoping that as they prove they are trustworthy look forward to doing further business ihn the future – AAAAGGGGHHHHH ! ! ! is this another com ? ? ?

  20. @rosemary oates: There is no evidence that companies buy carbon credits from private individuals. Even if they do, or have done in the past – why would a broker offering to sell them for you need so much money up front? If they were so confident of selling your holdings they could easily arrange to take any fees from the proceeds of a sale.

    I’d suggest reporting the matter to Action Fraud, as detailed in this blog post, including full details of the companies who have contacted you offering to sell your credits.

  22. Hi just wanted to know if you’ve heard of a company called Nexus trade partners, they’ve already taken me for over £3000. On purchase of graphine and are now asking me to part with 50000 for carbon credits propising a years return of doubling the investment. When I asked where I was supposed to find 50k he advised me to take equity off my house and lie to the banker. Stinks to high heaven surely.

  23. the latest scam is rubber,i have recently received 2 calls on the same day saying excactly the same spiel.
    saying they have made 17% profit this year.
    having already lost money on carbon & rare earth plus gold am having nothing to do with them.
    the companies were Stanford Barclay & FA Investments.

  24. I have been cold called by Eton Stanley offering to sell my carbon credits – which I realise I was scammed into buying 2 years ago by Carbon Neutral who went into administration shortly after I had bought them!! – this seems a common pattern.
    Eton Stanley seem to operating this boiler room recovery tactic that again seems a well rehearsed practise – why are there so many of these ‘companies’ around and why isn’t there more visible fraud investigation going on?

  25. Plenty of scammers out there. Include Sebastian Arkwright of London and Essex addresses. I bought 7,500 pounds of credits from ASJ International.

  26. Quick update on Spencer & Elstein that I have just added to the discussion on teh Carbonex SARL thread. As Mike states above they are a scam – they have shut up and moved out from Tower42, Old Broad Street. In their place, are a company that seems to know a bit too much of my personal dealing with S&E, called Goldberg and Reed (http://www.goldbergandreed.com/about.html) who cold called me last friday – incorporated in March 2014 … rat very much smelt with these.

    regards

  27. I bought quite a large bunch of carbon credits from Emerald Knight and Industry RE some two years ago.
    The portfolio manager was Mark Prowle who subsequently moved to Dubai with IRE, now back in UK.

    Does anyone know his whereabouts?

    If he contacts any of you offering to sell CC’s politely turn him down.

    Regards

  28. ‘James Abraham’ is one of the con artists in Goldberg and Reed. 5 Harbour Exchange. London. E14 9GE.

  29. Hi, I was sold a sublease on hectares of rainforest by Capital Alternatives a while ago, which were later to be certified as carbon credits. Since then, I am repeatedly phoned about fine wine, rare earth, gold, silver, palladium, African land – you name it, I have spoken with them. Yesterday, was cold-called by a reputable(?) broker with a very different pitch, Dirk Martens Brokers, who appear to be registered with FCA. They got my details off the register, but were a bit vague on detail, except I ‘may have been involved in carbon credits’. The pitch is they want me to get my money back so I might eventually invest with them to earn some real money. But that sounds like a bit of a long wait to pay day for them? If they are a reputable company, would they still cold-call? Guy wants me to copy my certificates and send to them, so they can check whether any of their customers will buy and in doing so find out what they are worth? Has anyone else had anything like this – I don’t believe anyone any more.. :-(

  30. Debra
    I think I had a call from these guys as well. As I couldn’t really talk on the phone, and they had my email and home address – I suggested that they send me something so i could check them over. Still awaiting for the details. Can post again if/when recieved.
    regards

  31. @Debra,
    I would be very suspicious. Their website (dirkmartens-brokers.com) gives very few details – no company or FCA registration numbers, for example – and was registered in March 2014 (anonymously).

    I doubt they got your name off any official register. They probably used the same kind of list as all the other cold-callers.

    That ‘pitch’ seems a common way to win trust. I’ve had callers say they want a long-term ‘working relationship’, and all I have to do is make a modest investment, open an account etc. That’s their pay-day! If you do talk to them be certain not to send any form of advance fee or further investment.

    Hope this helps,
    Mark.

  32. Does anyone know if there is an action group formed in Dubai relating to the AGT scam?

  34. There have been several people asking if there are any legitimate companies that can act as honest traders so that an exit strategy can be realised even at a loss – it would benefit many if there was a viable way to sell

  35. I am in a similar position, having bought carbon credits from Carbon Energy Resources. The projects themselves appear to be genuine – April Salumei and Hyundai. I have no idea how to sell them. There is a website for a company called CarbonTradeXChange which says “Carbon Trade Exchange is a global electronic trading platform serving the compliance and voluntary carbon markets”. Does anyone have any experience with Carbon Trade Exchange?

  36. Because I am keen to sell my VCUs, even at a loss, I contacted Enviro Associates to see what they say. Here’s what I was told: in order for Enviro Associates to upload my VCUs from Citadel I have to open an account with them by buying 200 VCUs for one of the projects on their books, at a cost of £800 approx. I then add my VCUs to theirs. Nothing can be sold yet because these VCUs were bought in the EU and the EU trading platform for VCUs is not ‘live’ and will not be live until some time next year. There is an incentive to act quickly, they say, because, in the expectation that the EU trading platform will go live, the price of the initial package of VCUs which you have to purchase will to up. Is this just another clever sales pitch? Does it bear any relation to reality?

  37. Hi people!!
    Just been contacted by Goldberg and reed.
    Please read below;

    Further to our telephone conversation, please find attached as requested, our brochure about precious gems and our terms and conditions of business.

    We work with experts in the market place to source diamonds and pearls at lower than wholesale prices. This enables us to offer clients a greater choice catering to individual client needs at significantly below high street prices.

    All our inventory of diamonds will be fully certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI) or by The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or by the Diamond High Council of Belgium (HRD). Our pearls are fine pearls and gem pearls, and are certified by an independent expert organisation.

    All our gems are sold with a written valuation provided by a reputable Hatton Gardens valuer established for more than thirty years.

    As, discussed, I shall be contacting you on 30th June at 3:00pm. Should you have any questions please feel free to visit us by appointment or our website http://www.goldbergandreed.com or contact me directly for further information.

    Their address is 10-16 Tiller Road, Canary Wharf, London E14 8PX, United Kingd

    website http://www.goldbergandreed.com

    Please let me know your thoughts if anyone has come accross them.

  38. @Max – Thanks for the comment. Goldberg and Reed’s diamonds look about as safe an investment as a second hand car bought from Del Boy.

    Here are some of the steps to take to check whether a company looks legitimate (or not, in this case):

    1. Goldberg and Reed cold called you. No reputable company would phone you with financial advice.

    2. Look up the company on duedil.com. Goldberg and Reed was registered in March 2014. The company has one director, Jeannine Lewis, who retired in May 2014. She seems not to have been replaced.

    3. Check out the website on who.is. Goldberg and Reed’s website was registered under the name “David Jones” in March 2014. A search for “David Jones” and “Goldberg and Reed” brings up nothing of interest.

    4. Goldberg and Reed’s website provides no information about the people behind the company.

    5. As the company’s brochure states (in the small print at the end): “Goldberg & Reed Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.”

    6. Last year the Financial Conduct Authority held a conference on financial crime. FCA’s press release about the conference includes this statement (emphasis added):

    “Current investment fraud concerns for the team include: pension liberation fraud; inheritance fraud; rare earth metals; diamonds; carbon credits and fraud relating to overseas land and property.

    7. In January 2014, the BBC ran a story under the headline, “Boiler room scam: Cold-callers promote diamond fraud”.

    My advice would be to report Goldberg and Reed to Action Fraud:

  39. Goldberg and Reed.com are most definitely disreputable. They have a history of connections with fraudulent business. I was introduced to Michael Nascimento, announced as the MD for this company and was previously MD for Morgan Forbes which is currently under FSA investigation. See link http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2093086/TONY-HETHERINGTON-This-Acropolis-shakier-Greeces-economy.html.

    Jeannine Lewis is also still working for this company as I have personally met her in the last few days. The office is not much better than a shack. Young people are exploited and made to work long hours for very low pay with no drinks provided. Doubt if anyone lasts long enough to actually get paid. This is a backstreet outfit. Otherwise don’t know much else about this business. Do your homework first before becoming involved in anything.

  40. I am now only realising that I was ‘conned’ into purchasing about £18K of ‘Carbon Credits’ several years ago.The units were three ‘environmental’ investments and I received certificates for two of these. The third, despite several requests, never materialised, although I was reassured that it made no difference as they were kept under my name in a ‘central’ deposit. Do I write these off to ‘experience’ or is there actually,or going to be, a method of trading so as to recoup my outlay? I must say that I do not feel very optimistic! Anyone got any advice?

  41. Thank you every one for all your advise in particular Chris Lang for your research) i will be reporting them and have concluded this must be a scam.
    Having been bitten once in the past my fears have been realised. They have my contact details probably from Years ago when i bought some Sysyem pro shares qhich turned out to be worthless ( a Boiler room scam very convincing at the time using Prudential logos on the paperwork.

    Thanks for all your help. I wish i could get my hands on these sorts of people who clearly have no moral or ethical compass.

  42. My 17 soon to be 18 in September daughter has just started Telesales!! for ‘Goldberg and Reed’..she seems to be enjoying the work and I believe she made her first “deal” today. .I am worried she is being scammed as they have taken her on a months probation promised her £60 a week for food and transport and of course they have done a brilliant job promising a highly lucrative career to a young lady. Hook line and sinker, I think the saying goes. Is there anybody out there that has worked for this “firm” and can advise me on what to expect. .Many Thanks. .

  43. I also bought carbon credits from a firm that ceased trading. I was cold called by Stephen Hannon of Gen Equities of Dublin stating they had acquired a transfer licence to deal with VCS Standard and Carbon projects. They valued my holding at over £5000 (way over valued) but wanted a E5000 trading account deposit with a Hong Kong firm Gard, registered 9 mths ago. I smell a rat!! I was also cold called by a Michael Gallagher who claimed to be with the VCS, encouraging me to take up GE’s offer. VCS hadn’t heard of him.

  44. Like Doug I have also heard from Stephen Hannon from Gen equities and Michael Gallagher who introduced himself as being from VCS . I Was advised that HFC -23 PROJECTS were being phased out wef 1/01/2015 and as I had invested in these in Dec. 2012 Mr Hannon could provide an exit for this investment. Again I was informed that I needed to open an account with adeposit of 5000 pounds .Sounds too good to be true don’t you think so I am avoiding.

  45. I originally bought credits through MH Carbon who are clearly dodgy and have now gone into liquidation. Now I have been approached by Bradlodge Corporate Trading who say they sell me credits in about 60 days and I can either have cash or invest in gold or a mixture of the two. They say they found my contact details on the carbon credit register!! Any thoughts on Bradlodge? For the record, I will not be parting with a penny upfront. I have learned my lesson!

  46. I was contacted a while back by these people – we never actually got to talk terms, etc. But they did put the pressure on regarding an imminant sale. They started by telling me to do my own due dilligence and gave me their Companies House registration number, either they know that there are a lot af scammers out there and want to prove that they are a long standing established company, or they are a clone of that company they are pretending to be. To be honest – I steered clear of those. But I am working with a team here in Canary Wharf to sell out of my Carbon Credits for a small profit, some at the end of this month and the rest at the end of next – if this is successful I will advise all as to the company name to be able to assist you the best I can to exit – unfortunately there is a purchase to get you onto their books in terms of a diamond. I’ll update all posts and threads as soon as that comapny show me that they are good on their word – as I said I would to them.

    Regards

    Matt (into CC for 48K with Select Global)

  47. @Matt: Sorry to say it but no one is going to be able to sell your carbon credits, and even if they could they would not require you to invest in diamonds. Unfortunately these people are taking advantage of your desperation to recoup your losses. Don’t give them any more money, just report them to Action Fraud.

  48. I was ‘conned’ into purchasing 3250 VERs in 2012 by Harman Royce, they folded soon after my £22k was paid. The credits were however registered in my name. Since then I have been called regularly by many of the firms mentioned above… My worst experience was with a firm calling themselves South West Utilities of Gibraltar. Usual … Pay us blah and we will sell your credits… I lost my money and felt rather foolish. This was reported to Action Fraud. More recently I was contacted by this Michael Gallacher claiming to be from VCS saying my VERs had been registered fir offsetting and not investment purposes… I was going to lose them unless I contacted a licensed broker, Gen Equities. I have had several phone calls from Stephen Hannon and further calls from Gallacher….. Both phone numbers they call on are dodgy, if I return a call it comes up as number not recognised. I now gave a request to transfer 5000 Euros to a Chinese Bank. I have the Bank Details, but Action Fraud don’t seem to be able to do anything. These bastards are committing out and out theft and targeting vulnerable investors who got into the Carbon market.
    One of the numbers Hannon calls me from is 01342 821002…. Not recognised
    Gallacher calls from 01269 849592…. I retired from the Police after 30 years and will not give up any more of my pension to these thieves.

  51. Hi Matt. Thanks. If you have any luck selling CC’s, pls let me know. I’d be happy to sell mine at a loss in reality. I have mentally written it off as a stupid mistake so recovering anything would be a bonus.

  52. Bradlodge are scammers. They used to be Demmore before getting closed down. Look at their website. There is a spelling mistake in the company name at the bottom of the homepage – Corperate (sic) – not a good start! They also seem to be associated with Wenware Trading – more scum.

  54. “Look up the company on duedil.com. Goldberg and Reed was registered in March 2014. The company has one director, Jeannine Lewis, who retired in May 2014. She seems not to have been replaced.”

    The company is still into the same business guys and Jeannine Lewis is the HR head there.

  55. This is for those who mentioned about Goldberg and Reed. website http://www.goldbergandreed.com
    They are a fraud company who exploit youngsters and make them work long hours. Jeannine Lewis still works there and is part of this whole fraud system. The main person is a guy called Pedro, although I doubt that this is his real name. They have a number of fraud businesses which also includes a site called http://www.thisiswealth.com.
    I know people who have worked there and have not even received their payment. Do not get lured by their website — they are simply out there to make some quick money and exploit people.

  56. Hi people,
    Anyone had a recent call from anyone at “China Merchant Securities (UK) Ltd” ? If not yet – you may well do. This is a resurected skjcapitalpartners.com cloning the newly formed “official” subsiduary of the investment back. They have the sales patter, offer to purchase the CC’s from you at a small loss, providing emails and headed .pdf documents as per CMS, but check the originator of the emails … then check them against Google and the first hit is the FCA site scam company pages – reported in Oct 13. It looks like they are even based in the same office tower as me 8¬|. Just so as we are aware ….
    regards

  57. Just had a followup call with “Frank White” of “China Maerchants Securities Ltd” – he got very abusive when I started quizzing him about his details (FCA approved in the UK, not regulated, trading for 150 years in China, in the UK for 2 years although only registered the company late last year) etc. Steer clear.
    Regards

  58. Hello guys. While I cannot argue that for the most part, many of the companies that are mentioned in this blog are indeed scam companies there are a few out there operating exactly as they should be within the carbon market. What people need to know is facts about the market. Are carbon credits a suitable investment? not for most. It is an alternative investment. (i appreciate many of you would have been told something different)This means that it may or not become liquid. It is recommended that no more than 10 percent of your investment portfolio goes into these kind of assets as they are high risk high reward. The carbon market has many different types of credits. Some countries have active platforms for some credits but it is a very young market and you should be looking at anything up to another 5 years before any kind of trading platform is available to EU investors . To put your mind at ease I am not a broker but I do know a lot about the market. Many of you have an asset that still has a worth. You just have to wait until the market reaches liquidity for that particular credit in the EU. At the same time you are going to have to realize that anyone ringing you up trying to tell you they have an exit is lying to you and they are going to take your money from you. So sites like this have a place and a definite worth but they are lacking in terms of anything helpful to those that still have the asset. All you can do is wait. There are no quick fixes, you could be waiting years. The fact is the scam companies and criminals acting out there have poisoned public opinion on the market but the reality is, The market does not care. The market continues to grow and you need to start understanding exactly what your investment is doing. You are not going to find those answers here but i do appreciate there are few places out there you can. All i say is this. If someone rings you saying they can sell your carbon credits, they are lying to you. If someone rings you up saying that your asset is worthless, they are also lying to you. make sure you are speaking to people who can validate what they are saying and do not give money over the phone. Always run company checks on those contacting you and refuse to deal with someone who you cannot meet at their registered offices.Red monitor have no doubt saved many of you from thousands of pounds but you still need to know what is happening with your asset because in 5 years time maybe sooner i believe you will all be able to sell your assets.I am happy to answer any questions that regard the market.

  59. @Richard – Perhaps you should take a look at what Andrew Ager said to the City of London Police in 2012. From 2008-2012, Ager was Head of Carbon and Emissions at Jeffries Bache, a subsidiary of Jefferies Group, a global investment banking firm. He’s now head of trading at Vertis Environmental Finance. In other words, he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to carbon credits:

    Why you should not buy voluntary carbon credits as an investment: A carbon trader explains

    Then read the Financial Conduct Authority’s warning about carbon credits.

    You should also read what Mr. Registrar Baister said in the High Court in November 2012, when he ordered Foxstone Carr Limited into liquidation:

    “[T]he missing information customers aren’t told is the considerable difficulty they face in disposing of the carbon credits. The usual cold calling methods are used to sell and to give the impression that the credits are likely to go up in value and can be traded easily. In fact this is not the case. Information has been obtained that the older the credit the less desirable they are and therefore the less valuable the credit becomes over time. This information is concealed from consumers.”

    Read those last two sentences again.

  60. Thank you for your reply Chris. Remember these were 2012. The market has changed a lot and progressed forward hugely since June 2013 when China actually started trading VER credits at around the 10 dollar mark and the government is encouraging their brokerages to take credits on board their portfolio to help increase liquidity by selling them as an investment to individuals. I am not saying i think carbon credits are a good investment, far from it but the market is growing and it will reach a point where the market will become liquid and people will be able to sell at last. This doesn’t mean this will be at a profit necessarily but i believe people will be able to sell credits. The fact is brokers want a cut and they do add huge mark ups to them to make sure they make their commission. This is going to mean people will be selling at a loss potentially if they sell straight away. South Korea are launching their first trading platform on January the first next year and will be selling private investors credits from that point onward. However again that is only relevant to South Korean investors and brokerages.The fact is regardless of these scam companies, regardless of opinions of those involved in the market the market has continued to grow and will do so. The EU market is huge and will not be liquid over night but while countries like China and South Korea continue to lead the way there is no realistic reason to not see the EU launching trading platforms at some point in the future. It will happen at some point I am sure. The key thing is to make sure people do not bleed more and more money on pointless exit scams and make sure they receive the correct information to make smart choices.

  61. Just had an email from a ‘Nick Start’ Sales Director for Sterling & Bond LLC with offices in Dubai (302 Icon Tower, Tecom Dubai, UAE, P.O. Box 48796 ), London (One Royal Exchange Avenue, London, EC3V 3LT),Australia (Level 11, 100 William Street, Sydney NSW 2000(and Hong Kong (1709-1710, 17/F, 118 Connaught Road West, Hong Kong), offering to buy my Carbon Credits. A quick check on their website (http://www.sterlingandbond.com/) reveals the usual stock pictures of corporate employees and gives very little specific information on the company itself. they say Sterling & Bond is the trading name for SBB Commercial Brokers L.L.C
    License Number: 687192, Registered No: 1113828. It doesn’t say where they are registered though. Wasn’t able to find anything on http://www.fca.org.uk.

    I would beware of this Company too…

  62. @matt. I got a call from these guys asking me if i was willing to sell the land parcels i was scammed out of in 2010 by the property partnership aka Ultraclass Ltd. China merchant securities hmmmm. So are they a clone of the subsidary or what? cos im getting a lot of calls . sounds like a recovery scam to me . shall i report to action fraud or FCA?

  63. Another company contacted me today…. Claremont Partnerships…. asked me to check them out on Company Check website. Usual story They want to convert my VERs to CERs £3900 up front they will provide an exit in February fro over £12 per credit!! I cannot believe these guys have the front to try and steal my money!! He gave the name of Mr Chambers. I asked for a face to face meeting, he said they cannot do this until I am a customer!! This stinks, please warn your followers
    http://claremontpartnerships.com/capital-exchange/

    Of course it could be genuine????

    I think not

    Regards

  64. these guys are totally shameless!!!

    please see the research I did into Sterling and Bond listed in this thread – it is very eye opening! http://redd-monitor.org/2013/12/19/financial-advisors-online-is-running-a-carbon-credit-recovery-room-scam/#comment-1008327

    I googled former contacts from AGT I found that apparently Amine Benkaddour is an Executive Director of Pegasus http://www.educationinsider.net/detail_news.php?id=758 – according to Rebel Economy he used to be a senior member of staff at AGT http://rebeleconomy.com/dubai/the-middle-easts-latest-scam-carbon-credits/… it is probably the same person.

    This poster agrees with me http://pegasus-agritech.pissedconsumer.com/scam-20140727515143.html

    The commenter at the foot of the article also names Ryan Singlehurst along with Amine Benkaddour – I have read on other pages on this site that Ryan Singlehurst is also Ryan Smith (senior director at AGT Dubai)?

  65. No asset can be just traded. Sell then buy of course .Cers If you go on point carbon will show you the price each day and they are worth a few cents. VERS have a standard global value of 3 pound 99p this is based on a report by thomson reuters but that is to buy not to sell. There are 7 active pilot trading platforms in China but only chinese residents who purchased through chinese brokers can sell on these. No one will be able to sell your credits and this is unlikey to change for anything up to 5 years. The fact is this. If and when it becomes a liquid market for EU investors then the media attention it gets will make us all aware. Until that point you do not need to buy into other people telling you they can trade or sell. I can categorically say now that this is a scam and no one will be giving you an exit. The average worth in china is around 9-10 dollars. But again this is not a market we can access no matter what you are told or where your projects are in the world. Avoid this company like the plague and stick to that rule that you never trade over the phone unless you have met them in person in their offices first and then do your homework on the company first as well as on the investment.

  66. I have been following these posts with interest as I realised some time ago that I had been scammed, around £13K. Part of the scam was 336 VCU carbon credits. the company that sold them to me went into receivership, however Royal Exchange Carbon Advisory DMCC were the custodian of the credits and said they would continue to be. I have jut received a letter from them saying they are now going into voluntary receivership and have told me that in order to maintain the security of my holdings I need to
    1. Transfer the credits to another custodian
    2. Retire/offset you carbon credits against any carbon footprint you may have. This option will mean the credits will be removed from the registry and will no longer exist. The benefit is to contribute to being socially responsible by eliminating Co2 from the atmosphere.
    Contact the carbon brokerage that specialises in the buying and selling of voluntary carbon credits.

    Please can someone advise what I should do and whether there is a reputable carbon brokerage out there?

  67. hi vickij,
    i am in the same boat as yourself, so please keep me in touch with any developments you get as i will keep you informed to any update i can give you from my end
    regards john

  68. What you should do here is simple. The brokerages that initially sold the asset to you, legally or not. Would of had the asset held in a holding company for you. Regardless of what happens to the broker the asset will still be safely held with the holding company. This means you can sit back and wait. There is an argument for joining a new broker but i would advise you not to for the simple fact that if and when the market becomes liquid then a lot of the current brokerages we know to be legitimate will look at adding carbon to their portfolio and you could then join them. They may still ask you to do some trade with them first but it is more likely they will charge you a small joining fee and then take commission which will better suit everyone involved. The fact is, you will not mind doing it at this point because you know you are getting a reputable broker and that you have an asset that can be sold. Right now, any money paid offers no return for you. save up or look for more solid forms of investment. Leave carbon as nothing is going to change any time soon. As long as you can confirm your holdings are secure you are fine and under no pressure to act on them. You may of got stung but you can not change this and throwing more money at illegal exits help no one. Follow my advise. Confirm your holdings and then leave be until such point as the market becomes liquid. Be prepared to wait 5 years if at all.

  69. @Richard – I’m sure an awful lot of boiler room operators would be very happy if people who had been scammed did nothing for five years. Nothing has changed since 2012, when Mr. Registrar Baister explained in the High Court that,

    “Information has been obtained that the older the credit the less desirable they are and therefore the less valuable the credit becomes over time. This information is concealed from consumers.”

    Holding on to near-worthless carbon credits (which become even less valuable over time) while waiting for the market to become liquid makes no sense. The fact that there is no secondary market for voluntary carbon credits doesn’t exactly help your argument.

  70. I think you may of missed a key point here. They cannot sell them. There are no magic solutions, they simply have to wait and hope the market becomes liquid. What are the options? wait or join a broker. The broker cannot sell the credits so what benefit is there to joining a broker? You spend x amount of money for a service that they may never be able to provide for an initial outlay that you may not have.

    More to the point. Who would they join? as you have said countless times they are not an investment and anyone saying they can sell them is lying.So if you do not agree with me that they should wait. What are you suggesting they do? pretty much all the companies out there are scams offering exits we know are not real. So are you suggesting people take chances that this time, this company may actually have an exit? no off course not because we both know that is stupid and only further fuels the scam elements out there. So the only logical option is to wait. If there is a third option i am missing then i would like to know as would all of the people posting here. Everything has changed since 2012 other than the fact that people can still not sell the credits. They should on my advise wait. Do not pay for a service we know does not exist right now and hope that changes in the future. All invested in the market need to stop focusing on the fact they were scammed and start being realistic about how they can make the best of a bad situation. The only solid advise right now is to make sure you know exactly where your credits are held and hope that at some point in the future you will be able to sell them and that when that point is reached there will be brokerages out there ready to help with legal exits.If you disagree please say why. Please do not say that someone said something in 2012 because it doesnt help. If nothing has changed back that up with facts rather than just saying it.Right now people are still being ripped off because they are only getting hear say and rumours when they need market facts that are up to date. That is the only way to make informed choices when brokers call.

  72. It is doubtful that any money will ever be recovered and if it is then the police forces and other organisations involved in any investigation are entitled to take the cost of the investigation from that money leaving little if any for the public to claim from.

    Aside from all this it will be deemed as a legitimate investment because it was. Meaning yes it is possible if you were miss sold you may have a claim but against who? these people are practically untraceable as they can be operating from anywhere in the world using a virtual office and vanish without trace.

    A lot of people were told the right things and the investment was sold as a long term speculative investment. Those people cannot claim because they bought in legitimately. They have to wait until the market develops to a point of sale. The ones that were miss sold need to prove that if they could ever bring a case. They may be fortunate enough to have things written down in email from the scam companies but what if they have not? These companies did not record calls so they could say they sold it correctly and unless people can prove otherwise they are likely to be faced with a huge bill from the courts. The fact is this. What do people do with there investment? my point that right now they should do nothing is the best form of action. Take legal advise if you can get it and if you can get legal aid then great but i very much doubt it.

    People need something more realistic to go on and that is that while this site is an excellent way to make sure people report scam companies to stop others being a victim. Actual decent advise that is given should not be dismissed so readily. People should wait and not spend a penny elsewhere. Report a new company to action fraud if they come about and never give them a penny but be prepared to gain nothing unless the markets become liquid which will be a long time. Legal actions will prove costly and potentially worthless even if you go into it as a big party bringing one case. WAIT and see how the market develops. Hopefully you will get something back long term.

  73. @Keith. If it is the same Nick Start, he was at Select Global … he was the CTO that I bought my credits from. Adrian Hallmark then took his place and the company sank and disappeared.
    Regards

  74. Reading this with much interest as we too have handed over nearly £100,000 to CNI with Paul Seakens named on the money transfer.
    This was overseen by The London and Colonial who we thought we were safe with.
    Another company connected in the process was Viceroy Jones who never answer their phone.
    Just wandering how many others got caught this way ?
    We bought ours in March 2012.

  75. @Matt – it seems the staff are on rotation from one scummy rip off to another.

    this weekend I learned that Ryan Smith, Mark McGairey, Amine Benkaddour, Luke Britton and Nav Hussain are all working for a Dubai startup called Pegasus Agritech. Pegasus Agritech is looking increasingly like AGT mark 2!

  76. New question : anyone come across a company called “Peter Jager Financial”, based in the Gherkin Building in central London (apparently). Had a cold call from them Friday as someone having REM’s and CC’s. Apparently – no upfront fees :) They do seem to be regulated (EEA Authorised) on the FCA wesite, although their site (www.pjagerfinancial.com) was only created in July of this year.

    Any advice will be gratefully received

    Regards

  77. @Matt – Thanks for this. Someone called Peter Jäger is EEA Authorised. Here’s his website: http://www.deinfinanzpartner.at – no mention of an office in the Gherkin.

    There’s a company called PJ Financial registered at Companies House in the UK. Here’s the website: http://www.pjfinancial.co.uk – again, no office in the Gherkin.

    And then there’s the PJ Financial which claims to have an office in the Gherkin, is cold calling people from a suckers list, using another company’s name, and the EEA Authorisation number of some guy in Austria. The words “ridiculously obvious scam” spring to mind.

  79. Thanks as always for pointing out the obvious Chris – being blinded by the possibilities of some proper exit, we need a voice of sanity :)
    So – checking the source of the email I also got from them :

    SquirrelMail authenticated user [email protected]) by
    http://www.pjagerfinancial.com with HTTP; Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:24:31 +0400
    Message-ID: <45e1dcd733d5926573ceabba05521d07.squirrel@www.pjagerfinancial.com

    And they call with a withheld number.
    I tend to agree that it is another recovery room scam.

    regards

  80. Matt, Chris,

    I was also contacted by PJagerfinancial. I decided to go along with their proposal to see how it panned out. As Matt said there was no upfront fee, I would be required to pay £150 to the company after the transaction was complete, what did I have to lose i thought, first alarm bell!! About 3-4 days later I received an email asking me to sign a confidentiality agreement and provide copies of my passport and recent utility bill, 2nd alarm bell!! As I had never done business with them before I refused asking why you needed this and would only do so when i saw a copy of the contract they had with the buyer. Surprise surprise the buyer has not yet signed a contract! Also they had no contract for me to sign either. Since then its been silent, no phone calls at all. In conclusion, I reckon this is a way to commit ID fraud! Stay clear!!

  81. I have reported 7 companys to Action Fraud, and they give you a ref No.and password, but will not name the company so you do not know which company they are writing about. I have written to them and not received a reply. The Police tell me it takes 2 years to investigate one case, and by the time the Tax man and the Insolvecy Co. have charged £500 per hour there is nothing left for the people they supposed to be protecting.

  82. I too have reported it to Action Fraud after doing as much investigation that was possible on our own but getting no where.
    I do realise that this has to be paid for but surely not by all us duped investors especially when you see how much public money gets spent on other issues.
    How many of us have been conned ?
    I have my MP looking into the situation has anyone else done the same ?
    These Fraudsters are Criminals and do need dealing with.

  83. I’ve just been cold called from a company called Brook Court Trading, on a unknown number, who claim that they can they can sell my voluntary carbon credits in Luxemburg ad a reasonable return. The company looks legitimate with a smart web site, I also hung up from the call part way through and got in contact with the agent from the number on the web site. However they need an upfront payment of £1700 to sort the paperwork and change my voluntary carbon credits to compulsory, not sure how they can do this? It sounds very fishy….. I bought the credits at £6 they claim they can trade them out at £10-45. Anyone else been contacted by this company??

  84. They are a scam. They were operating around March and i believed they had vanished.They are also connected to brad lodge (scam) and manor trade (scam) They claim to be able to help with any asset you say you have. They just make it up. They cannot sell your credits. Plus credits are worth no where near those values and i can say with certainty no one can sell credits yet as there are no platforms and may never be. Avoid anyone telling you they can sell or have a buyer. it is not possible. China have a pilot platform but only Chinese citizens can access through Chinese brokers and their official platform will not launch until 2016. Until there is an active EU trading platform (think 5 years+) then you will not be able to sell. you will give away money to scams in the meantime if you buy into anything they say.

  85. @Joe Logan – Thanks for this.

    Please refer to point 2 of what not to do in the post above:

    Do not hand over more money to companies who claim that they can sell your credits, no matter how convincing they sound. That is the Recovery Room part of the scam.

    Brookcourt Trading cold called you. No respectable company would do that. The reason the website looks smart (until you start reading it) is because they hired a web design company called Rhics Web Studios.

    The website was registered in April 2014 (in the name of Rhics Corporation). The current directors of the company have been there for seven months.

    There’s more about Brookcourt Trading in comments here, here, and here.

  86. I too had a cold call on 9th October and strange conversation with Oliver James Burton of BrookCourt Trading, offering to sell my carbon credits for £10.45 each in Luxembourg on 14th December 2014 subsequent to “Formatting them from Voluntary to Certified Carbon Credits”
    I subsequently received an “Underwritten Guarantee” certifying my deposit of £3,617.80 the “fee for exit of my Investment Portfolio” (my carbon credits) etc, etc, (for) a “Contracted sale” (of my credits) amounting to £34,996.50.
    The letter accompanying the “Underwritten Guarantee” told me that “Brookcourt Trading Ltd act as an Escrow agent and hold funds for Clients until their set release date”
    Needless to say I haven’t yet acted on the deal offered!

  87. is there ANYONE I can trust to sell my carbon credits ?
    No doubt I will receive LOADS of offers now ! ! !

  88. Hello Rosemary. The one thing people need to understand is this. It does not matter who calls you offering you exits.They do not exist. You cannot sell your credits as there is no market, or platform to sell them on. This is not going to change for several years if ever. You are stuck with the credits long term without any magic solution. You can however avoid losing more money by ignoring any company that claims they can sell your asset.

  89. Would really like to know how many of are caught up in this fraud.
    As advised have passed mine on to the London Police Action Fraud along with anyone else who will listen to me.
    Feel like they must be overwhelmed as you just don’t appear to hear anything.
    We may need to all join forces to get more action.

  90. been approached by george astor of claremontpartnerships.com offering to sell my carbon credits – want 2% and £1000 for ‘bond’ – legit or yet another con ? ? ?

  92. Scam and another Scam company that phones me is called Fidelity but not the real one !! Beware

  94. Have just been scammed by an individual who went by the name of Peter Harrison. Was initially contacted by a company called Rothstein Capital & partners who are based in London and have only been in existence as a company since January 2014. Have parted with over £2000 in order to secure an exit strategy and recover my initial carbon credit investment in early 2012. PH promised that my money would be refunded and investment returned within a few weeks. Have heard nothing more from this unscrupulous, immoral criminal and am furious at having been taken for a ride like so many. Have reported my case to Action Fraud but having read all the comments made by other individuals who have been duped, I am resigned to having to write this money off and put this down to experience. Would that I had read this blog before parting with my money!! Has anybody heard of or had dealings with Rothstein Capital? If so would welcome their feedback and thoughts. Why has this scandal not hit the press I ask? Ben

  95. i was contacted by mail from rothstein regarding precious metals purchased from another fraud outfit. i had hear of recovery scams so was sceptical. when they asked for money upfront i was certain it was a scam. please everyone victims of scams that recovery scams pretending to get you money returned are fraudsters.

  96. Contacted by Claremont partnership to sell rare earth metals for me that I don’t even own

  98. Rothstein Capital & Partners claims it can sell my carbon credits within 2 weeks! But first it wants £1000 to be paid as “security insurance” before acting as agents in this “sale”. It offers no contract and no promise of refund if the exit cannot be effected. It sounds too good to be true. And it probably is.

  100. I bought £20K of VER credits from Strategic Carbon Solutions in March 2012. I have seen a certificate on Carbon Neutral Investments web site in the past but this has since changed name to Carbon Clearing. I spent a lot of time last year trying to find a reputable broker to sell my credits and I soon realized that the method suggested by them was always the same – join by paying some money and we will sell your credits. Luckily I didn’t as now I look for these same companies most do not exist any more. Latest cold call is from HARPER & REED of London. They can sell my credits to their customers in Dubai. Luckily thanks to some of the contributors above I now understand that they cannot be sold. Thank you to those above. I guess all we can do is cling on to the dream of selling in 5yrs time if we are lucky.

  101. Spent over £70.000, my retirement money. Had people from Emmetashford, Halifax-Trust and Aberdeen-Trust, contact me. Last one told me my units were worth £107.000. Should have listened to the warnings from my bank, have tried to do online checks with the websites that I was given, seemed ok. Have reported it to action fraud.

  102. contacterd by richard atkinson of noble roak partnership – offereing to sell my carbon credits for upfront payment – here we go again unless anyone knows that they are for real ? ? ?

  103. I bought some VER carbon credits from a company called Green Market Opportunities which is now insolvent. I bought 594 credits at £7.50 (total holding £4455) on 24th February 2012.

    Is there any way I can get some of my money back or are these now worthless in effect. I’ve been told it’s an ‘illiguid’ market.

    Is this a total scam?

  104. Guys, i keep seeing the same comments every time a new scam company comes along. You all start saying. ” such and such contacted me saying they can sell for an up front fee and each time you say, ” looks like another scam unless someone knows different. Think about it. This is a perfect recruitment ground for these scammers. They can see those of you who can be manipulated and those of you who they are wasting their time contacting you. No one can sell carbon credits at the moment and it is not a certainty that you ever will sell them. That is the risk with a long term investment. High risk, high reward. If you do ever sell them it will not be for a few years yet. It is still in the early stages and is so complex that it may never become liquid. Countries and companies will start trading them inside of the next 5 years but that doesnt mean they will be buying yours. Do not listen to anyone who tells you they can sell, hang up and report them. It IS a scam. Also do not publish on here how much you have invested. it doesnt matter and i promise you that scammers are reading it and then asking you for a value they think you can afford based on your investment.Do not be duped into the clever wording. Do not pay any money up front for a service that doesnt exist or for a service that may exist in the future. Wait, when the market is ready (if ever) it will become public knowledge, you will not need to rely on strangers cold calls. P.s these companies contacting you all the time, they are the same people over and over. They scam you and then appeal to your vulnerability and offer understanding and offer to help with another scam. But while people keep falling for them they will keep coming. Learn form others mistakes and no that they are all scams and this will not change for the forseeable future but again, If and when it becomes possible to sell you will read it in the newspapers or see it on tv. please learn from mistakes. You have to write off the money and move on or risk losing more and more

  105. Like most others I thought I had been scammed and now know it. £16K lost through ecosynergies and green capital consulting both wound up as fraudulent a fact I only realised today.
    I have slender hope over another £3,600 invested in Phase 3 CERs supposedly UK Government backed. These were bought through Global Alternative management (in liquidation) and passed on to Emerald Knight investments whose website has been brought down (as of today but probably at start of 2015). Does anyone know anything regards these companies i.e. are they definite scammers. Received another cold call yesterday re exits as he seemed to know I was on registry (how do I check this re CERs?).

  106. @Anonymous – There are several things happening here:

    1. Once you’ve been scammed, your contact details, and a few details about how you were scammed, go on to a “suckers list”. These lists are traded from one boiler room to another.

    2. Once you’ve been scammed, the chances of you being scammed again are actually higher. Which is why suckers lists exist.

    3. Boiler rooms only operate for a few years, after which they disappear. Sometimes they get closed down after an investigation by the Insolvency Service. The people behind the boiler room operation reappear a short time later with a new company name.

    4. You’re right that there is no secondary market for voluntary carbon credits. Anyone ringing you up out of the blue offering to sell your carbon credits is running a scam.

    5. People who are contacted by scam companies sometimes google the name of the company. It’s useful to know the names of the companies doing the scams in order to warn people not to hand over money to them. I think it’s very important that people continue to leave comments with the names of the companies that are offering these scams – if only to warn other people that might be contacted by them that it is indeed a scam.

  107. These are scams. every last one. It is the same people running it. Hence they know you are on the registry. Ultimately it doesn’t matter if they go to prison for mis-selling an investment or if their company goes into liquidation. It has no affect on your investment.If your credits were purchased legitimately which 9/10 they were then they are held in a nominee account somewhere (hopefully in your name and not the company though this is not the end of the world)The crime is not stealing mmoney which in the first instance they have not but telling you you can gain returns that are not available as the investment is not liquid.If it ever becomes so then you will join a reputable brokerage firm who will sell them. If anyone tells you they have an exit inside of the next 5 years they are a scam. I know more than most having worked in the are for some time.There is more hope than people realise but you would still be foolish to try and chase that initial money with cold calls. If someone cold calls you asking for money hang up! it is rediculous that you would hand over your money to a stranger who called you out of the blue. There are no magic solutions. You were conned because you were manipulated with your words and this will happen again and again until you listen to the realists out there.There are 1000,s of you that this is aimed at and because you keep taking the calls and handing over your money they keep coming back for more. Does it not sound stupid if i told you a stranger rang me from a company i have never heard of and sold me an asset for 1000’s of pounds for something i have never seen? you would think gullable fool. I would say unwise chancer. However when you do it a second and third time you kind of deserve it. Because you are blinded by hope. you can not exit the market as there are no buyers, it does not matter what spiel someone gives you, it is lies. Until you swallow your pride and accept your losses. these people will continue to take your money time and again while having a laugh at your expense when they put the phone down, while booking their holiday you are paying for. If someone cold calls you asking for money hang up!

  108. I got a cold call from Richard Atkinson too. He said he was from a company called Nobel Rock. he asked me questions so that he could give a reason why he needs money upfront to exit me out of the carbon market. Beware, another scammer!!!!!

  109. Dear Anonymous

    Not at all sure your figures about 9/10 of CCs sales being legitimate. If the CCs originally purchased were legitimate why would investors details have got onto the “suckers list”?

  110. ‘re recent post – Richard Atkinson of noble rock partnership kindly offered to deal with ALL my ccs- did have long discussion re taking % on completion of sale rate rather then money up front – obviously I have missed out on this amazing deal as no follow up call ! ! ! WATCH OUT . .WATCH OUT. . SCAMMER ABOUT

  111. Spoke to a Peter James at Noble Rock. He refused to give me details of the end buyer of my carbon credits. A company Asio Capital, based in Sweden, was written in the paperwork sent to me but no contact details. When I inquired why I can’t find their website I was told it’s because they are based in Sweden. Finally, Peter gave an ultimatum to become a client or not. I chose not.

  112. I, too, was contacted by Richard Atkinson of Noble Rock Partners offering a “corporate re-diversion” of my voluntary carbon credits in order to sell them on 10th June next at a huge profit. The cold call came form a private number which cannot be traced. Beware! I intend to contact the FCA about this call although I doubt if it will do much good.

  113. Rosemary, please stop using this site. It is not helping you and you keep asking the same question over and over. NO there are NO companies out there that can sell your credits because they can not be sold. Any one wanting credits at the moment can go straight to a broker and buy them at a fraction of a cost but as this is not a legal requirement and wont be for at least 5 years. 99 percent of companies have no interest in spending money they dont need to.

  114. @Richard – I’m sure the scammers would be delighted if everyone who had bought carbon credits as investments sat back for 5 years and waited in the hope that their near-worthless carbon credits would become valuable. Ever heard the phrase, “cooling the mark out”?

    Here’s an explanation that I read over on Naked Capitalism the other day:

    The mark is permitted to win some money and then persuaded to invest more. There is an “accident” or “mistake,” and the mark loses his total investment. The operators then depart in a ceremony that is called the blowoff or sting. They leave the mark but take his money. The mark is expected to go on his way, a little wiser and a lot poorer.

    Sometimes, however, a mark is not quite prepared to accept his loss as a gain in experience and to say and do nothing about his venture. He may feel moved to complain to the police or to chase after the operators. In the terminology of the trade, the mark may squawk, beef, or come through. From the operators’ point of view, this kind of behavior is bad for business. It gives the members of the mob a bad reputation … In order to avoid this adverse publicity, an additional phase is sometimes added at the end of the play. It is called cooling the mark out. After the blowoff has occurred, one of the operators stays with the mark and makes an effort to keep the anger of the mark within manageable and sensible proportions… An attempt is made to define the situation for the mark in a way that makes it easy for him to accept the inevitable and quietly go home.

  115. Last year I was approached via a letter by G2G Investments regarding purchase of my VER CC’s. I have had continued contact with Roseanne from this company (somewhat sporadic albeit). I have only paid a minimal amount of money (£200) to recoup my £50k investment. Sale involves paying a commission on sale. If this were a scam it is not very impressive as I am still being updated on sales progress. BUT lots of promises in that a Californian Broker is purchasing the credits. My projects are genuine but I have never seen a certificate so how can I find out easily if my holding is actually registered and has anyone else had similar experience with G2G?

  116. This is a scam. You have lost 200 and they will without question ask you for a 5 figure fee once they have you completely roped in and you will feel complete confidence in paying it. They then will keep contact a while after so you don’t report them while they wrap up all the other people they are conning and walk away with an easy 6 figure payday. This is the norm. Guess what? They will do the same next year too.

  117. I have a signed letter to the effect that there will be no further payments required and as this has been going on since last July if it is a Scam then it is not a very profitable one. Has anyone else had dealings with G2G, I would be interested to know

  118. according to Wiki:
    “There are two main markets for carbon credits: Compliance Market credits Secondary / Verified Market credits (VERs).”

    What is the skinny here?

  120. Hi everyone. I have Carbon Credits dating back to 2010 which I have largely written off. Can we form a club and pool what we know in order to potentially try and recover something at some stage. If it is a matter of putting enough credits together to attract a buyer then can we do this as a syndicate and hopefully ward off the wolves at the same time?

  122. Hi Baj,
    While I agree, I’m also told that buyers like to buy bigger lots. I’m contacted once every 3 months by someone who says he can sell my credits but I have to put up insurance money or some other similar excuse. We need to know (and in a completely unregulated market I don’t know who does know) who if anyone is buying these. But between all of us who own them can we not find out? I just feel as an individual with a £20k holding it is hard to make progress. If we come together we may be stronger. I’m happy to share my e-mail address – are allowed to do this on the site? I thought we could open a google doc or a facebook / linkedin club and see who wants to join and then see if we can find a solution. Even if we lobby the EU to create a floor price then at least we would be doing something positive. I’m very open to a better idea! Best wishes to all and everyone in a similar position.

  124. I would be up for this as I have 14,000 which I paid 98,000 pounds for.
    I have lodged it with Action Fraud 16 months ago and heard nothing.
    I have also been onto my MP who tried very hard but got no where.
    The London and Colonial who were responsible for buying them on my behalf and looking after my pension fund have washed their hands other than wanting management funds to administer something that is worthless.
    Kind regards,
    Phil Wilkinson.

  127. Just heard – there is already a club of owners. I’ll let you know when I know more

  128. Have been contacted over the phone by Asset and Investment LLP, they asked exactly what project I had ‘invested’ in. They then asked by email for me to send details. I ignored the email, and even so they phoned to say they had a buyer for the credits, at 2% commission. They then sent a confidentiality agreement for me to sign. Problem 1:- I am referred to in the agreement by only my surname (never signed in that way ever). Problem 2:- The person signing on behalf of Asset only signed with his first name (monarchs are the only ones to do that in my experience). They also ask for passport, driving licence, utility bill as anti money laundering precautions, mmmm.

    Also received an illiterate letter from Oakwood financial management*, saying ‘Oakwood financial management, have been officially appointed the official** liquidator of a number of companies……. involved in the carbon credit market.

    *Caps not used where should be. **Also officially appointed the official liquidator, too many officials!

    Any one else been contacted by Asset or Oakwood?

  129. hi all,
    i too have credits going back to 2010 the latest being with emerald knight. i see the group as a bonus and would like to join.
    regards john

  130. Hi Paul,
    I was chased by Asset and Invest – who said they had a buyer for the credits. I’m very clear that I’m happy to sell but will not be putting any more money up. They kept the dialogue going claiming their buyer had agreed to buy credits for the projects I had. Eventually though the request came in that I would need to insure the payment with a 5% deposit. I explained that this would not be forthcoming and the calls stopped. I have been out all day but plan on joining a club of credit owners to see if we can better understand if there are any genuine buyers for these credits and what we need to do to market our credits.

  131. Andrew
    You have confirmed what I suspected about Asset and Invest.
    I suspect these credits will never be a tradable item, have essentially written the money off ( a relatively small amount). I can’t use up endless amounts of time on a lost cause, am more interested spending my time on my work. My big concern is that people are still falling for these scam-boy schemes. I have been phoned about ‘investing’ in wine, gold, diamonds, graphene, start-up gold mine, car parking spaces, fine art (prints by Bambi). I have had some lively exchanges with one or two worked up scam-boys! As Bambi is anonymous it is difficult to alert her, and others, what is going on. Getting these scam-boy schemes more generally known is the way to reduce their activities.

  132. That was the purpose of the London Police Action Fraud section.
    I can only believe that they don’t have enough resources to target the scammers.
    It needs to be featured by the likes of a special BBC PANORAMA program.

  133. Phil, Action Fraud normal reply is “thank you for the information, we will file this for future reference”. The one time the police did investigate, I even gave then the home address of the responsible person in Surrey, I was informed that they would not proceed as Surrey was considered outside their jurisdiction

  134. I feel the same Dick I gave them all the information regarding my situation with names and addresses.
    Did a lot of detective work our selfs spending hours on it.
    Even found amongst all the paperwork my signature had been forged on some documents.
    The whole thing is a mess.
    Have sent numerous emails and don’t even get a reply.
    I’m now working and living overseas so hold out little help.
    Maybe on here we can keep the pressure on.
    Phil.

  136. It’s quite easy to do using Google.
    I certainly won’t be contacting anyone on a Hotmail account.
    I’m sure the scammers read this forum as much as us people who have been scammed.

  138. @notagain I just invested with Pegasus Agritech. Can you please tell me more about their connection with the people you mentioned? where did you find this info?

  139. Well just received my annual statement from the London and Colonial Insurance company who administer my pension fund.
    In a couple of years my 98,000 pounds fund is now worth 0.00 with a projected pension of 0.00. They have kindly sent this all the way to New Zealand where I now work and live.
    Personally I hold them as much to blame for the mess I’m in as they quite happily did business with the criminals that are identified on here using our money.
    For one I would like to know what they took out of it.

  140. Dear Phil,
    I assume you have taken legal advice – surely an intermediary like L&C have wider obligations of care?
    I was in touch with a firm who feel that the market for credits will rise in 2017!

  141. @Andrew Gray – Thanks for this. What’s the name of the firm telling you that the market for credits will rise in 2017? Are the trying to sell you carbon credits, or claiming that they can sell credits?

  142. Investor Protectors. They are setting up an alternative investment exchange http://ai-ex.com/ I’m still not entirely convinced either – but I guess we need to keep up to speed with anything which might provide an exit.

  143. Dear Andrew.
    Hope at the end of the tunnel?? don’t hold your breath lads…

  144. Hi, there
    I have invested with Ecopush in New Horizon Energy oil project,
    Anyone else in the same situation?
    I would like to join if anyone takes action.
    I olso involved in carbon credits Cook stove project and Californian carbon credits.
    Thank you.

  145. Does anyone know of Burton Manors Associates Ltd offering to sell carbon credits ?

  146. @John Holmes – Thanks for this. I would be extremely suspicious of Burton Manors Associates. The company was only registered in March 2015, so it has no track record. The sole director is Martin Gary Page, who is director of three companies, all registered in March 2015. He does not appear to have any record working in the carbon trading business.

    Here’s the house where the company is registered (from google maps):

    I couldn’t find the company’s website. Did Burton Manors Associates cold call you? How did the company get your contact details?

  147. I’m still getting calls to purchase my carbon credits I purchased from AGT. Sounds like another scam.

  148. I agree with the previous messages. I understand that credits are trading at £1 if at all – so if you get an offer above this level then the sting will be sure to follow. Their staff will not be on Linkedin – it will be hard to call them back etc etc. While we all live in hope – we need also to appreciate the reality of our position.

  149. We have been contacted by a company called Goldberg Management Ltd, who say they can sell our Carbon Credit holdings by converting VERS into CERS, something that cannot be done in the UK but can happen in Europe, to a “buyer” in Europe. In order to progress the trade they have asked for a 10% Surety Bond. The address they use is different to the registered address on the Companies House register. This does not stack up as a legitimate trade.
    Has anyone else been similarly approached?

  150. Surety bonds are supplied by banks and not a so-called investment company. Challenge them and tell them an Escrow agreement would be OK on condition that the CC’s are sold at a quoted price. chances are the guy you speak to won’t even know what Escrow is. Whatever you do, do NOT enter into a surety bond unless it is with your own bank. This is a scam.

  151. @Mike Galloway – See point 2 in the post above:

    Do not hand over more money to companies who claim that they can sell your credits, no matter how convincing they sound. That is the Recovery Room part of the scam.

    In this case, Goldberg Management Ltd doesn’t sound at all convincing. As David Vale points out, this is a scam.

    Goldberg Management Ltd contacted you. Where did they get your contact details from? (Other than the fact that you’re on a “suckers list” having been scammed into buying carbon credits as investments.)

    There is no way to convert VERs into CERs. Even if you could, CERs are currently trading at €0.42, as this graph from vertis.com shows:

    Goldberg Management Ltd is asking for an advance fee (it doesn’t really matter what they call it, whether it’s a deposit, a surety bond, or a green mezzanine security default swap) – you hand over the cash and they disappear.

    Is this the website: goldberg-management.com? If so, it really isn’t convincing. The address is obviously made up: 1234 Beispiel Adresse, Wiesbaden, 77892, as is the phone number: 1(234) 567 8910. The projects are made up. The website isn’t even finished, although it was registered in 2012.

  152. Hi Mike,
    I get these calls around three times a year – they always evaporate when you ask them to show their past trading or give any details about their operation. As if life is not tough enough already!

  153. Thanks for your advice, I will not be proceeding but I will log a report with Action Fraud to try and put these people out of business.

  154. The website you listed is not the right one – they are trading as part of Goldberg Trading and Management Ltd, based in Eastbourne with an office in London, which I suspect might be virtual. We have had further calls from this outfit saying they were Goldberg Asset Management, which they claim is part of GTM Ltd. They cannot agree on which company they working for!
    We have done some further digging about – the company accounts for Goldberg T&M Ltd make interesting reading – currently have negative assets of over £177k so not very liquid.
    So it definitely looks suspect.We are not going to proceed and neither should anyone else.

  155. @Mike Galloway – Thanks for this. Do you know whether Goldberg Trading and Management Ltd (or whatever they are calling themselves this morning) has a website?

  156. Funny you should ask that – no they have not got a website, not one I can find or been given a link to either.

  157. It’s funny isn’t it – people with a real business have a web-site, are on linkedIn and all the rest. Not so these operators of recovery scams. They use phones which are normally ex-directory. If this is not the case, then very often it’s a answering service and the people who call you are somewhere else. All little things to check before you have a second phone call.

  158. @Andrew Gray – Thanks, but I wouldn’t advise a second phone call with anyone who cold calls you – no matter what the website looks like, no matter what the LinkedIn profiles look like, no matter how plausible the story sounds. No legitimate company would cold call you with investment advice.

  159. @Chris. I would disagree, take the second, third and forth calls/e-mails and try and get as much info about them as you can and then publish on sites like this. This is how nash, start, wilson and others have been exposed, mainly due to their ego’s being considerably larger than their IQs. I have even had disgruntled workers of theirs contact me with considerable amounts of information about them, most of which checked out.

  160. @roger – Good point. My concern is that these companies are deliberately targeting vulnerable people. And the telemarketing conmen can be very persuasive.

    No legitimate company would cold call you with investment advice. So if you are cold called you know that it’s a scam. Do not send them any money.

    And if you decide to follow roger’s advice, please send me any information you get from these companies (emails, brochures and contracts), to [email protected]. Also send a copy to Action Fraud and the FCA. Thanks!

  161. Any one been contacted by Delta Litigation based in Malaga. They claim to be recovery lawyers. Wondered what their angle is

  162. @David Vale – Delta Litigation is a scam. First off, they cold called you, raising the question of how they got your details and how they knew that you’d been scammed into buying carbon credits. (Unless, of course, they’d got hold of a suckers list, with your name on it – and why would a legitimate legal firm be using a suckers list to contact potential clients?)

    A website called Mindtimeshare points out that Delta Litigation is another name for Litigation Services, a company that cold calls timeshare scam victims. Mindtimeshare advises: “we would certainly recommend caution when dealing with Litigation Services”.

    And it’s well worth reading the comments here about Delta Litigation.

    Litigation Services’ website has no details about who is behind the company. The website was registered in 2013 by Reza Mahmoud Sharifi Dadvar. The company’s directors are Sharifi Dadvar Mahmoud Reza and Calle Guden Daniel Ernesto.

    Meanwhile, Delta Litigation’s website was registered in October 2014, by Roger James. Less than eight months ago, then. Which doesn’t stop the company from claiming to have “over 30 years of experience in fraud claims and a reputation of success in the field”.

    Roger James is also director of a company called Legal Prosecutors Ltd, which looks about as reliable as a chocolate teapot.

    There’s more about Delta Litigation here, including confirmation that Litigation Services is the parent company. Delta Litigation told one person that the only upfront fee would be for translation and notary costs. Within a week, Delta Litigation sent a demand for a £1,000 payment for translation costs, payable to Litigation Services SL.

    Delta Litigation is a scam.

  163. I have been contacted by Alpha Capital about selling carbon credits they want £2745.60 to change the credits from vers to cers .This money will be put into an ESCROW account and will be returned after the sale of my credits Their paper work states guarantees according to British law.I do not trust them. They have offered £11.44 per unit

  165. It’s disgusting that these crooks are still getting on with this scam.
    What the he’ll is the City of London Police Action Fraud Squad doing ???
    I have been waiting for a response for nearly 18 months now. You get no replies to your emails or phone calls.
    I even contacted my MP in desperation he did at least reply but no joy.
    Wish Action Fraud would come on here and give us some answers as this has cost me a 100,000 pounds and I have 14,000 of the damn things.
    Time for some proper action.
    Phil Wilkinson.

  166. You cannot change VER’s into CER’s. ESCROW is a good idea BUT who is operating the ESCROW, that is the first question you need to ask. Challenge them and state yes you will put the money in ESCROW but do it via your own solicitor not the ‘very convenient’ contract they will send you.

  169. I have just been phoned by Goldberg Asset Management offering to convert my VERs to CERs. No mention of money at this time. Withheld number. Said they’d e-mail me! That will probably be the end of it. I usually ask for an e-mail off these companies informing them that the police can track the actual computer used from the IP address for my security which scares them off, some mid-sentence!

  170. Hi guys,got led onto this chat after looking into Goldberg Management. I was scammed by these guys after they claimed to be selling some wine on my behalf. They seem to have a list of customers who had wine with a company that went bust. Nothing to do with carbon credits i know but don’t want anybody else to be done by these guys. There is a website http://www.goldbergmanagement.co.uk. Stay clear at all costs.

  171. Just contacted by Alpha Capital who can sell my credits. This is Alpha Cap Ltd who want £2500 up front to secure. It will go into an Escrow account who I’m not allowed to know who they are. No commission to pay as they are paid by the buyer. They are also listed as a clone company by the FCA!

  175. Alpha Capital been on again. Deadline the end of this week! I only need to deposit £1000 now. They’ll pay for the conversion to CERs (I thought the original contact agreed this can’t be done!). They said they were registered with the FCA, the FCA must of forgotten to put them on the list I suppose. I mentioned they had cloned another company and they told me that I’d got it wrong and it was them that had been cloned. A lot of name dropping of Vince Cable. It’s when you hear you’ll get money back you start to teeter on the edge, so I’ve written this to pull you back.

  176. Don – Ask them for the bank account number/sort code that you have to transfer it to and then send a swift e-mail to the bank offering to make it public that they are happy for scammers to use their bank as a safe haven for money laundering.
    Not much happens apart from a bit of panic, lots of e-mails and promises to be more vigilant as to issuing bank accounts and vetting customers. But quite good fun and you quite often get an e-mail from the scammer saying they have changed bank and give you a new number/sort code.

  177. Does anyone know if there is a group action to recover carbon Credits which was transferred from Royal Exchange Carbon Advisory DMCC to Vert. If anyone has any information I would appreciate it.

  180. Hi Chris u seem to know everthing thats going on so I am hoping u can either tell me to stop wasting my time or steer me in the right direction lol

    I invested £10,000 in carbon credits with a company called blue horizons who have recently gone in to liquidation so I’m assuming there’s nothing I can do to get anything back ?

    But whilst I was with them I also spent another £3,000 on cer carbons who they purchased from evolution trade services who I have contacted an they have told me my purchase is safe and that I should contact a carbon broker if I wanted to sell them but I can’t find any ? Can u advise me please ? Or can anyone as something back is better then nothing
    Their Web address is http://www.evolution trade services.Com if that helps
    Many thanks
    Paul

  181. @Paul bradshaw – Thanks for your comment. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been scammed. I assume you’ve gone through the list in the post above – especially the second one about what not to do:

    Do not hand over more money to companies who claim that they can sell your credits, no matter how convincing they sound. That is the Recovery Room part of the scam.

    Have you contacted the firm appointed as liquidator of Blue Horizon Trading Ltd? Here are the contact details:

    Robert James Thompson, Rendell Thompson, 10b Fleet Business Park, Sandy Lane, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire GU52 8BF. Telephone number: 01252 816636 or email address: [email protected].

    You should also read this post (it’s bad news, I’m afraid):

    Guest Post: The carbon credits sold to private individuals as investments are worthless

    Evolution Trade Services Limited is mentioned in this post. Please report Evolution Trade Service to Action Fraud (0300 123 2040).

    In a comment back in May 2015, I pointed out that CERs were trading at €0.42. Since then, they’ve gone up to the princely sum of €0.61 (see the graph on vertis.com).

  182. Ah gutted but atleast now I can stop wasting my time trying to sell them an finding a broker etc
    I guess I just need to throw the paperwork away an learn by mistake
    Really appreciate ur help chris u have no idea how helpful u have been an how much u have helped us all Thank you
    P’S BE HONEST IS THERE ANY POINT IN ME CONTACTING THE LIQUIDATORS?

  183. Just a note to anyone on here, there would appear to be a renewed interest by scammers in clients of MH Carbon. The patter being used is varying each time as is the company they are calling from.

    Long story short, and as Chris has already explained, if they are offering to sell your credits, it is a scam.

    If anyone is tempted by an offer on their investment please take the time to check it out properly, we can often demonstrate to you quite effectively the flaws in the offer being made.

  184. @Anonymous – Please do not throw any of the paperwork away! It’s an important record of how the scammers took your money. I’d be interested in seeing a copy. Please scan the documents (redact your personal details) and send them to [email protected].

    True, the chances of the liquidators tracking down your money are slim, but if you don’t contact them, they certainly won’t do anything to find your money.

  185. Hi there not sure if ur able to help me with this as u did on my carbon credits issue ?
    When I purchased my carbons I also purchased 2 storage pods with a company called store first self storage which after some found work I think it’s owned by the same person who owned blue horizons
    I am currently stuck with 21st or age pods that have no one paying to use themail so no income an it seems they won’t buy them back until the 5th birthday from original purchase so that’s the last of my savings ie another £11,000
    Is there any advice u could give please or steer me in the right direction

  186. I’ve been approached by a person representing a company in China dealing in mergers and acquisitions, who has offered to purchase shares I hold in a US energy company, purchased 5 years ago and offering very little returns (none for some years). The shares will be purchased at a generous price. I have to provide details of my shareholding, including scanned copies of my share certificates, on a form to be returned to this company, which will then arrange payment (no details about when or how as yet). Is this a scam? And if so how would it work to harm me? Any info gratefully accepted, as always.

  187. I have recently been contacted by two firms Matt Tamara and Lackner Kurt both of which claim to have EEA authorisation and FCA authorisation. They claim they are authorised to buy carbon credits on behalf of a Chinese bank. As usual they want money up front in the form of a surety bond. Please avoid them as this is one of the characteristics of the scammers. I have been scammed for a considerable amount of money and can only hope that some day the credits may have some value

  188. @Jeremy Lane – The usual questions apply. This person “approached” you. How did he or she get your contact details? How did they know that you hold shares in a US energy company?

    Without knowing more details (like the names of the companies involved, for example) it’s difficult to say much more at this stage, but no legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice.

  189. @John Loughman – Thanks for this. You’re right, this is an advanced fee scam. No legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice. Do “Matt Tamara” and “Lackner Kurt” have websites? Did they give you the FCA registration number? Which country are the companies registered in? (Neither name appears on Open Corporates.)

    Please report both companies to Action Fraud (0300 123 2404) and the FCA.

  190. I have been approached by the same two companies. I cannot find Lackner Kurt (they claim to be Austrian) but Matt-Tamara is at http://www.matt-tamaraandco.com/. The latter’s FCA registration number is 442918. This is always assuming, of course, that this is not a clone.

  191. @Philip Howard – Thanks for this. There is a Matt Tamara on the Financial Services Register, with the reference number 442918. The regulator is Austria’s Bundesministerium Für Wirtschaft Und Arbeit (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour.

    But that only tells us that the likelihood that Matt Tamara and Co is a clone is very high. The website was registered on 25 September 2015. It was registered anonymously.

    Please report the company to the FCA.

  192. I have been contacted by Richard of Matt Tamara who wanted to know what Carbon credits I hold. After giving him what I think I have, 4 hours later they were sold to China Investment Corp for twice the value I paid BUT I had to raise a Surety Bond of 25% of the value within 5 days. Now Mark is chasing as I am the last to sign. Watch out they are busy and using a Cloned address and telephone number.

  193. Thanks for your reply to my query, Chris – helpful as always. The person that approached me gave his name as Charles Anderson-Smith. His company has the name ChinaBeijing Mergers and Acquisitions and appears tobe based in Hong Kong. I don’t know how he got information about me and my shareholding (in an American company called Timberlake Energy Solutions), but he claimed to be acting for a Chinese client who was seeking to mount a take over of this company. I have decided not to proceed with the offer he made.

  194. I bought £3000 of carbon credits from M Carbon

    I have totally written them off as a loss – I now sleep nights ?

  195. Matt Tamara & Co — From FCA —
    Thank you for contacting us, I understand that you have been contacted by a firm who state they are Matt Tamara (ref 442918), you explained they are looking to purchase your carbon credit shares from you.
    We do have an entry for this firm on our register, however this firm is accountable to their home state regulator in Austria and is only authorised in the UK to deal with Insurance Mediation or Reinsurance Mediation.

    Matt Tamara & Co.
    45 Pont Street
    London, SW1X 0BD
    Tel: 020 3 137 1692
    Email: [email protected]

    Beware Clone RecoveryRoom Scam. When I told them it was fraud and the angle was the insurance payment, they said I could do it through my own solicitor.
    Then they tried to suggest they could do better than my present (legitimate) Stockbroker, who obviously will not/can not deal with carbon credits. Quoting the normal ridiculous % returns.
    You can see from the FCA above they are not regulated for this even if they were not a clone.

  196. It seems that those involved in CC’s have now had their details passed onto what could be the next round of fraud. So far in the last 10 days I have had three phone calls from separate ‘companies’ trying to persuade me into Binary Share Trading. Usual stuff, sound of a sales room in the background with loads of people on the phone, London phone number claiming to be located in Canary Wharf or Fenchurch Street. Anyone got any inside on this?

  197. Pass the details on to City of London Action Fraud Squad and let them try and get them although I’m still waiting after 3 years to try and get a result but we have to keep chasing the crooks.

  198. has anyone heard of a company calling themselves vanguard? supposedly dealing with carbon credits

  199. @john lapsley – Thanks for this – see the comments about Vanguard Trading on REDD-Monitor here and here (and keep reading down the comments for more discussion about the company). The short version: Vanguard Trading is running a recovery room scam.

  202. Anyone had dealings with a scammer called George Morgan or his supposed company carbon markit trading Ltd ?

  203. Lackner kurt had this company ring me in the summer they are a clone company do not deal with them

  204. @Andrew – Do you have a website address for the company, or any further details? What dealings have you had with George Morgan and/or his company?

    Google searches for “Carbon Markit Trading Ltd” and “Carbon Market Trading Ltd” bring up nothing.

  205. I haven’t been through every report on this website so don’t know if First Advisory Global have been reported. they are trying to get me to pay £3000 as a ‘bond’ and they have a buyer for my carbon credits bought in 2012. I was suspicious and over the weekend have been doing some digging. they are obviously running the resale scam, I have got their company number which isn’t shown on the companies house list nor does their name show in the lists. now reading about the resale scam I am convinced they are involved, of course they did cold call me initially.

  206. @P. Tingle – Thanks for this. I’ve not written about First Advisory Global. (There’s a search box here.)

    You’re right – First Advisory Global is running a recovery room scam (otherwise known as an advanced fee scam). Here are some warning signs:

    1. They cold called you. No reputable company would cold call you with financial advice.

    2. The company website was registered in November 2015. It was registered to someone with an address in Panama.

    3. The company isn’t registered at Companies House. There are two companies with similar names on Open Corporates, but both are inactive.

    4. First Advisory Global claims that it can sell carbon credits with a 2012 vintage. The reality is that these carbon credits are worthless. (I know this is bad news, but knowing this may help people avoid getting scammed again.)

    5. First Advisory Global is asking for an upfront fee.

    There’s more about recovery room scams here:

    Sucker lists, recovery room scams, and why victims of scams become more trusting, not less

  208. I have recently been approached by a company claiming to be mapletree-capital.com investments of 73 cornhill, London EC33QQ, offering to buy my carbon credits with no money up front, taking 2% once the money from the sale is deposited into my account. They have verified my credits apparantly, and offered about £46000 for my 8100 credits. Having had my fingers burnt by a company calling themselves edgebrook carbon invest a while Ago, I am understandably cautious, but still optimistic about this.
    Has anyone heard of this company? Is it a clone of the very large mapletree investment company based in the Far East and worldwide? Is it a new scam? Or what? Any advice, comments, info, help, suggestions etc, would be gratefully received. Thanks.

  209. Get the name of the person you are talking to, find out the companies registration at Companies House, phone number from a Google Search and call them on their documented number. Chances are something will not prove correct. BUT in the unlikely event you get money in the bank tell us all.

  210. @Paul – Here are some red flags:

    1. “Mapletree” contacted you out of the blue. No legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice.

    2. Ask yourself how “Mapletree” knows that you have been scammed into buying carbon credits (and apparently even has the details of your credits). The answer is that you’re on what these scam companies call a suckers list.

    3. “Mapletree” claims to be able to sell your carbon credits. Unfortunately, the reality is that they are worthless.

    4. “Mapletree”‘s website was registered (anonymously) on 31 December 2015.

    5. The company’s phone number (0333 022 0386) is shared with a company called Diklah.

    6. Mapletree UK Management Limited was registered in the UK on 26 August 2015. Mapletree has three directors, all with the same address in Singapore (10 Pasir Panjang Road, #13-01, Mapletree Business City, Singapore, 117438).

    7. Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd is a a real company. It employs 1,700 people, manages US$30 billion and has this statement on its website:

  211. I have a company that keeps phoning me calling themselves Carnegie Asset Management based in Bath who claim to be able to sell my carbon holding for over £13k, for an upfront fee of £1700. Has anybody experience of them ?

  212. @Martin – Thanks for this. To be honest, it doesn’t matter what the company calls itself. It has three classic hallmarks of being a scam:

    1. Carnegie Asset Management cold called you – read more about why this is a giveaway that the company is a scam here.

    2. Carnegie claims to be able to sell you carbon credits. There are two problems with this. First, the bad news is that your carbon credits are worthless. Second, there is no secondary market for voluntary carbon credits.

    3. Carnegie wants an advance fee.

    Please report Carnegie to Action Fraud.

  213. Upfront fee is a scam. How do you know they are in Bath?? chances are they are not and simply cloning another company based in Bath. Do a companies search on their name and see what comes up. If it is really based in Bath then search for the registered companies phone number. 99.9 % prob it is a different phone number. Then for a bit of sport play this other company along as long as you dare and waste their time.
    A good wheeze is to tell them you are near to Bath and will pop in and see them in an hour.

  214. Please understand from someone who worked In the industry until realising exits were decades away if ever. Anybody telling you they can sell your credits is wrong. They sound believable because either they are unaware of the lies they are telling due to a convincing boss at the interview and training stages or they are the person selling the scam. It sounds professional and real because they know how to appeal to you but in many cases these are the same people who have already robbed you. Give up. Cut your losses and walk away. No other option exists and you will lose more money to bogus companies if you keep chasing sales that do not exist. There is no such thing as an exit from carbon. They have no value that can be unlocked and this will stay the same for sometime. Any money you give, you lose and of you give them a pound, next week they will ask for ten. It is how it works. Trust me.

  215. It would be nice if Action Fraud would come on here and update us on how they are getting on taking these criminals to task.
    I’m over a £100,000 down done through a reputable organisation the London & Colonial.
    Just received my annual statement telling me my fund is valued at 0.00 but they still want their fees of nearly £600.00.
    I’m now working over seas to try and get sorted.
    I passed all my details to Action Fraud over 3 years ago.
    I’m sure they are bogged down are there others in the same situation ?

  216. Like many others I have been chasing empty promises for two years now. I suddenly started getting calls from London Commodity Arbitration Service – I suspect they will at some point ask for an upfront fee! They sent a very poor PDF letter with no contact details. They do use a **@consultant.com e-mail address – http://www.consultant.com is a parked domain and a quick search of Google refers to [email protected] e-mails being involved a numerous scamms

  217. I bought almost £16,000 of carbon credits and biomass in 2012 through Royal Exchange Carbon Advisory. I have written off ever seeing my money again and after a lot of emails, phone calls etc I have given up trying to get my money back.
    I have now been contacted by an action group who were given my details by the sipp administrator in regards investigating the matter in the hope of grtting compensation. They want no money up front however there is a £100 fee if you decide to leave the group, they say if they can claim for compensation after the investigation any fees will be discussed. I am worried this is another con as how can you claim through fscs with these type of investments and the companies involved Royal Exchange Carbon Advisory and IPI are also not covered under this compensation scheme. Anybody any advice or any similar experience.

  218. If they are really an action group then they should be open and comment in this forum, they after all have a large audience.

  220. Hi Chris just received a call from a George Parker of City Asset Management saying he can sell my carbon credits for an upfront 5% fee.
    CAM is registered on Companies House but Goerges contact no 02071172503 differs from the no listed on the companies Web site.
    I’m presume this is a scam so making you and others aware.

  223. Hi Chris,

    Thank you for your prompt update. I called City Asset management and they confirm what you say-they do not deal in Carbon Credits and George Parker is not an employee of theirs. They have reported this Scam to the FCA and Action Fraud.

    Kind Regards

    Martin

  224. I have spoken to a George Parker, but he was working for Cadogan Tate who are allegedy selling my rare earths that were originally bought through Denver Trading(now liquidated.)I have foolishly paid over K20 to get all legalities sorted out, but they want more.Their telephone number is also 02071172503….I’ve phoned it enough times recently.What is my best course of action?

  226. Thanks Chris
    Do Cadogan Tate actually act as an unregulated Trader? The telephone number I use to contact them is the one above…..02071172503…….cant see that number in their website…..

  227. Another company has surfaced and is cold calling people, London Commodity Exchange. There seems to be an Andrew Stone and a John Underwood doing the calling of 360 invest and Alternative Markets clients as well as “my” one – Select Global, saying that they are working on behalf of the liquidators and are actively exiting retail investors out of the market. They know how many credits you have and value them at a blanket £8 each. I know of 4 others that have had the same call from the same people and all have the same valuation.

    All calls are from a withheld number, but call back details are via 0203 807 2473. Emails are from a George Prince and via the [email protected] address. Looking in the Companies House database, as they helpfully provide their company number – shows that London Commodity Exchange PLC are registered as dormant, to a residential address in Ilford, Essex. incorporated in 2010, accounts filed up to Dec15. One director and same person as secretary, with an additional director being another company (that does not have a director listed).

    I think that all those people contacted know that this is a recovery room scam, list of names numbers and “holdings” (!!??) gleaned from other sucker lists and perhaps more official sources, so just throwing it out there to ensure a wider audience.

    regards

  228. John has also called me about credits I know is useless. He claimed that he had a buyer but offering under the market price. He asked if I would wait for a better offer. I said to sell them at the offered price and took the offer that all fees come from the sale, so I do not have to send any money. I think he was taken back by me agreeing to sell as I have not herad back from him.

  229. Hi ,

    I’ve recently been contacted by a Michael Scott of Aviva Wealth Management who says he can sell my Carbon Credits for me and transfer the monies into a fund called FUNDSMITH EQUITY, which does appear to be a current fund available to the public.

    I’m waiting on a valuation of my CC’s, but the minimum investment he says is £20K

    Is this another CC scam?

    Regards

    Martin

  230. @Martin Howe – Yes it’s a scam. First he cold called you. Second he claims he can sell your worthless carbon credits. Please report this to Action Fraud. Did you get a website address, phone number, or any other details about this company?

  231. Hi Chris,

    He has a contact no 08008021712, which when you call, is answered as Help Desk. His email disclaimer reads:

    Please read this information carefully. Copyright belongs to Aviva plc, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used, sold, licensed, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or form or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Aviva plc. Aviva and the Aviva logo are registered trademarks of companies within the Aviva plc group. Aviva may also claim rights in other trademarks, service marks, logos and icons. Suite 1701, Cityplaza One, 1111 King’s Road, Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong, 0800 802 1712, UK Helpline.
    And gives an email address: Email: [email protected]

    I contacted Aviva investments and they have never heard of Aviva Wealth Management, so I agree this is a recovery scam.

    Thanks for your help on this

    Martin

  232. To All

    30 November 2016

    Has anyone been contacted by FirstPlus Financial Group? Yet another recovery room bunch of scammers wanting upfront payment for legal fees! Contacted by a ‘James Sinclair’, Director is Malcolm Jones. FirstPlus Financial Group is supposed to be a PLC.

  233. @Paul Mellor – Thanks for this comment. Did you get a phone number for FirstPlus Financial Group, or a website address? There are several companies using the name FirstPlus Financial Group – one of which was a subsidiary of Barclays, and another that was taken over by the Mafia. (Did you look up the company director, or did James Sinclair tell you that Malcolm Jones is the director?) I’m guessing that neither of these companies really contacted you!

  234. Chris
    ‘James Sinclair’ gave me a phone no 02033227009, name of Director Malcolm Jones is on email attached info, they sent to me setting out legal fees of £1,643.00.I did look up First Plus on Companies House website the info is there including address 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP. Which is the address give by ‘James Sinclair’.

  235. If you want a laugh just look at the obviously badly cloned website. Also lacks company registration. E.g. http://www.firstplusfinancegroup.com/about-2/ us ………… Won’t divided. His won’t lesser us their likeness without sixth is light own. Divided Gathered created third tree after grass. Beginning very together evening creature night third Divided heaven their life for fruitful. First our.

  237. Out 52K. Investment in Carbon and bamboo. Approached by company IPI services (Wendy) offering bonus if I transfer my pension. They have gone out of business , but found out registered in Coast Blanca and have had 52 other registered companies at PO box there. Pension dealt with by company Central Tax and trustee planning who I had to pay fees to.A company called Royal Carbon exchange have made the investment. Central Tax now have told they are no longer looking after my pension is being looked after by a solicitor based in Scotland. Then received a letter from Central tax saying that they thing investment is scam. really! Advised me to contact Plantation action group. Just looks like I am being passed around.Any advice.

  238. PEGASUS AGRITECH, AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURE GROUP, same company with different names is a SCAM that has been going on since 2013 when AGT sut down. It’s owned by Mahmood Almas who is Bahraini national. Runs by Amin bankadour and Ryan Singlehurst/Smith who used to sell Carbon credit for AGT and started their own app named SAMPLE ME. They have scammed for about $50 million and still on going. They tell people to invest in their Hydroponic farm in Al Barka, Oman in a machine called an A-Frame for $50,000 and see 20% ROi per annum, paid quarterly. They have sold over 800 frames and they only have 90 frames in total that are producing in Oman. They have built 2 more half hectors which can hold 180 more frames so the total of 270 frames. They are still missing 530+ frames. They claim that they have build many farms but this is the only farm they have with the help of an Egyptian doctor Mohammad Ashraf Omran. They are using an old system which produces lettuce in 45 days but they claim that they produce it in 25 days instead. The total revenue of the farm is 30,000 AED per month right now and the actual returns of the clients are close to $500,000 per month. So they are taking money from the new clients and giving it to the old clients. It has been over a year that there are delays in the payment to the clients for up to 2 or more months. The company has to generate new business every month for over a $1 million so everyone can get paid. Their license is an LLC from DED and they cannot sell investments, only Equipment. It is just a matter of time that they will not be able to keep up with their client returns and the company will collapse. Their future plan is to start a FUND in Portugal for $50 million so they can even do a bigger scam. Then they will go after whales who can invest big, not to the small clients. All i can say is BE AWARE from Mahmmood Almas, Amin Bankadour and Ryan Smith/Singlehurst.

  239. Hi Alex,

    Could you clarify where you have found this information? Please let me know as I am in the process of investing in this scheme and this information is quite worrying.

    Thanks,
    Jim.

  240. Hi Jimmy. I know someone who invested with Pegasus Agriculture Group and looking to exit for over a year now but they always make some kind of excuse of not to give his money back. I lost money with AGT and since then i have been following Ryan and Amin’s every move. They have just started Pegasus Food Future in which they are selling frames for $70,000 which produces lettuce in 15 days LOL. Not even ONE of those frames exits. One word… SCAMMMMM

  241. Hi Alex,

    Thanks for the response. Do you mean about the buy back option that they claim to offer or is your friend trying to sell his frame earlier than agreed? how do you know that these people are working for Pegasus? In the UK we can check company directors but I cannot find anything in UAE. There isn’t mention of them anywhere I can find.

    Thanks
    Jimmy

  243. Has anyone had dealings with Delta Financial Markets Ltd? Had a call today from a George Peterson claiming to be from Delta Financial Markets Ltd and able to sell my carbon credits. He said they would have to be converted to EUAs for which there would be a 10% charge but that he has a buyer in France who wants 180,000 credits and he would be aggrregating the credits from a number of clients. He valued the CERs at about £7 each.
    He also said that there would be no CC trading for 5 years after the end of 2017.
    Legitimate or just another classic cold call scam? Similar pitch to the one from Central Reservations and London Commodity Exchange.

  244. @Fallguy – George Petersen is running a recovery room scam. Delta Financial Markets Ltd is registered with the FCA. I’d be surprised if George Petersen really works for them.

    Did you get an email address, phone number and/or website address from him?

    Here are the red flags (many of which are the same as in this post, in response to another cold call you recieved):

    – No legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice.

    – Petersen will have got your contact details and the fact that you have been scammed into buying carbon credits, from what the scammers call a “suckers list”.

    – There is no way of converting CERs to EUAs.

    A CER is a certified emission reduction, or carbon credit. These are issued by the Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board for emissions reductions from CDM project. The current price of CERs is €0.19.

    An EUA is an EU emission allowance.

    Companies can buy EUAs or get them allocated free. The current price of EUAs is €6.94.

    – Oh, and Petersen is asking for a 10% charge – no doubt payable upfront.

    Please report Petersen to the FCA (0800 111 6768) and Action Fraud (0300 123 2040).

    Once again, it doesn’t matter what the company calls itself, or what story the caller cooks up. If you are cold called by anyone claiming they can sell your carbon credits, just hang up. It’s a scam.

  245. I have read some comments about the investment with Pegasus agriculture. I am involved in the investment but have had late payments for nearly a year now. I have spoken to ricardo schenke about exiting and i just keep getting passed onto other people. I am trying not to panic but have a large sum invested with this company. I got called into the office and sat with Mahmood Almas, he was more concerned in getting me to invest into Portugal, AGAIN passing the blame of the late returns onto the management company. I am afraid I have been scammed and lots of investors also do not get paid on time. If anyone has dealings with them please do let me know what your experience is.

  246. Anyone come across Marathon Asset Management. Looks like there is a scam company cloning them. Usual stuff up front payment to get a settlement for CC’s. Have reported this to the FCA as their registration number is false on documents posted to me

  247. Hello Chris,
    Was just contacted by VCS-Global claiming they are acting as an agent for Stanworth Capital AG in Stockholm, who are “…the corporate purchaser compiling a 5 million unit block of VERs for the Canadian Government.”
    No demand for up-front payments yet – but I have to assume it’s a scam of some kind. Your comments would be much appreciated.
    Many thanks

  248. @Ben Gardiner – It’s a scam. VCS-Global contacted you out of the blue. They got your contact details from a “sucker list”. A search on Google for “Stanworth Capital AG” gives no relevant results – in Stockholm or anywhere else.

    And why would a company like VCS-Global be acting as an agent for a company in Stockholm that is setting up a 5 million VER deal for the Canadian government?

    Please report VCS-Global to Action Fraud and the Financial Conduct Authority.

    Just out of curiosity, did VCS-Global give you a website address, or any other details?

  249. I have been attempting to exit my investment with Pegasus Agriculture for a considerable time now, only to be given excuse after excuse. I have surmised the following ; there are few or probably no A frames in existence. If any do exist they are certainly not enough to cover the investments being offered. This is clearly yet another way for the dishonourable management to defraud yet again. Following investigations i have discovered that Pegasus Agriculture is operating in England,UK. It would seem that Mr Ryan Singlehurst and Mr Amine Bennakour are running this operation, they seem to arise more than a few times on various threads. Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information on these characters.

  250. I have been trying to sort this out for over 5 years I have lost nearly a 100K to this and really thought Action Fraud would sort it and nothing has happened.
    My pension provider the Royal Colonial are just not interested other than wanting fees paid.
    I now work and live in New Zealand so I’m guessing its game over.
    The Criminals win.

  252. Hi people. I hope that no one has thrown away their documents re Capital Alternatives as all the people involved have now been charged and the FCA is looking to recoup money for investors. It’s worth reading FCA page and all info is there. Anyone with VCR’s ? Gowling solicitors’ via the FCA are sorting out what holdings are on the register and are doing test cases.
    Just a thought. We were also involved with a company called Citiwide who ‘bought’ £10k in gold for us from Amazon Gold who then went on to be Blackhawk Mines. Although the money went to an Escrow in the Bahamas and we have received an updated certificate, I still don’t know where to sell them. Any clues??

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