A company called London Prestige Capital is cold calling people who have been scammed into buying carbon credits and offering them an exit strategy. For an advance fee. If they contact you, I would suggest contacting Action Fraud.
In recent weeks, several people have commented on REDD-Monitor, pointing out that London Prestige Capital has cold called them (see the discussion, here).
On its website, the company claims that,
“At London Prestige Capital (LPC), we realise the importance of a strong relationship between clients and advisors.”
But at least when it comes carbon credits, the evidence is that the company starts off its relationships with a series of half-truths and lies.
London Prestige Capital’s message varies, depending who they are talking to. London Prestige Capital cold called “john arnold” and asked him to buy £2,000 of gold bullion, in order to open an account with the firm. Two weeks later, he received an email from London Prestige Capital explaining that the company doesn’t deal in carbon trading, his carbon credits were worth somewhere between 1p and 70p, but they would try to find individuals or companies who wanted to offset their emissions and put them in touch with him.
London Prestige Capital told “Rosemary Oates” that they could sell her carbon credits if she handed over £1,000.
When they cold called Frank J, he bargained the amount of gold he would need to buy from £1,500 to £1,000. London Prestige Capital told him,
“we will then start to pitch your VCUs through our Corporate and Retail Sales Desks. The minimum we will be looking to achieve will be GBP 3.10. and the maximum would be GBP 5.20 This can be achieved within a three to six month time frame.”
And London Prestige Capital had a similar message for “John Gould”:
“Once we have the relevant information, we will then start to pitch your VCUs through our Corporate and Retail Sales Desks. The minimum we will be looking to achieve will be GBP 4.18 and the maximum would be GBP 5.16. This can be achieved within a three to six month time frame and you will be kept up to date via our monthly trading report through your designated trader.”
It’s all nonsense, of course. The next time London Prestige Capital cold call victims of carbon credit scams they will no doubt have re-written the script. Cold calling people to promote investments is banned by the Financial Conduct Authority. If a company rings you with advice about buying or selling carbon credits (or any other investment advice, no matter what they call themselves, or how impressive, honest and polite the salesperson sounds) just put the phone down and report them to Action Fraud and the Financial Conduct Authority.
London Prestige Capital was registered in May 2012 as London Prestige Contractors Ltd. The company’s website was registered (anonymously) on 16 November 2013. Three days later, the company changed its registered office and got three new directors: Mark Tolworth, James Hardy and William Sheridan. On 20 November 2013, the company changed its name to London Prestige Capital. The company’s founding director is 23-year-old Amar Hussein. The company is still classified as a construction company in the documents filed with Companies House.
The company’s address is 288 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4QP. A company called Executive Offices offers virtual offices at this address.
London Prestige Capital mentions carbon credits only once on its website, in a list of Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) investments that are not subject to tax. The company offers investments in diamonds, gold, property funds and films.
If you’ve been cold called by London Prestige Capital, get in touch with the Financial Conduct Authority via their consumer helpline. Also report them to Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040 or via the website.
I have had a similar approach from LPC . Has anyone been contacted by Eton Stanley another “new” company based in a virtual office on Throgmorton Street, offering to dispose of VCUs but require the deposit of a bond. Has anyone info on this company ?
@Jeremy Sweet – Etonstanley Ltd looks like another advance fee scam.
They contacted you – no reputable company would cold call you. The company was only registered in November 2013. The website was registered in December 2013. About the only thing we know about the company is that its director is called Alan Mill.
On its website the company claims that “All Eton Stanley staff have extensive experience trading within Carbon markets as well as securities, equities, commodities and derivatives.” But none of the staff listed on the website (Steven Thomas, Oliver Turner and Richard Bright) seems to have any history of carbon trading. And the photo of the staff is a stock photo.
I was contacted by them this morning. Christopher Bridge 02036933145 who is a “Investment Broker” from London Prestige Capital. They had verified my carbon credits as correct and said I had to open a trading account with them before they could sell the VCRs for me at most £3.50 each. Suggested gold bullion and I agreed. They said it would be delivered to my door once my 5K had gone through to my account.
When I said I would visit 288 Bishopsgate, London to chat was hastily sidetracked.
288 Bishopsgate is as you discovered a virtual office.
The “compliance officer”, a Mark Ford is to send the contract in the post.
This is the same story and general patter that 4 or 5 firms have used on me in the last 18 months. Do not fall for it! Keep it up Chris. Thanks.
London Prestige Capital have sent me, together with contract forms, as “evidence” I requested of voluntary carbon sales, a Markit Financial Information Services Registry Retirement list, which appears to include VCUs. Has this any validity or relevance, please?
LPC have been contacting me for a while offering to sell my carbon credits (purchased through MH Carbon) if I open an account with them – min. £1000 in either gold, property, and now an investment account (that will yield 6% p.a.). A senior trader, John North, said they had over 100 traders on the floor and they’ve been achieving £1.50 – £5.50 for carbon credits and to allow 6-12 month for them to sell.
I questioned the situation regarding why they were contacting me, how the cc scam had unfolded and why I was very skeptical about who they were and what they were offering. He bid me a fairly quick goodbye.
I to have been contacted by Eton Stanley who said they could sell my credits, if I gave them a list they would
price them for me, they would take 5% providing I put up
a surety bond of £2.6oo, so I would not pull out of the
deal to sell my 3,331 credits the bond would be returned
to me with the money from the sale of my credits,I have not done the deal.
@Johnty – Thanks for this. I think you were right not to do the deal. See this comment, above.
Today I have received the contract from Eton Stanley the actual offer is a surety bond of £2,623-83p ,the
credits are valued at £7-83 each.paid to me in 90days
@Johnty – Where were your carbon credits generated (i.e. which project and which country)? Do you know the vintage of the carbon credits (i.e. the year the carbon reductions were made)?
Eton Stanley cold called you. No reputable company would cold call you.
Johnty, do not go for this. They are yet another bunch of scammers. Think what you could do with £2,623. Go on a decent holiday somewhere hot. Invest in a high yielding share, or give it to a charity. Chris has been involved with disreputable companies like these for years. Trust him.
My carbon credits were purchased in the following projects
1)766 Teesta V Hydro Power Sikkim,India
2)883 Madushan Hydro Power Honghe River Yunnan China.
3)897 Exploitation of Biogas CTRS/BR 040,Brazil
4)494 Zhangjiagang Nature Power Generation China.
@Mike Peters – Thanks for this. I’ve written about boiler room companies selling carbon credits as investments for a couple years. I’m not “involved with” any of these companies though!
Sorry Chris. My sentence “Chris has been involved with disreputable companies like these for years.” was indeed clumsy and I did not read it through before sending. I should have added has been involved with exposing these disreputable companies for years. I hope the “Trust him” sentence after, puts the clumsy sentence into perspective. Apologies again. No offence intended. I am 100% behind your actions against these scammers.
I asked Eton Stanley to provide a legal document supported by their Law Society registered lawyer to ensure that a bond will be refunded at 90 days. I have had no response.
I have been contacted by Eton Stanley – I’m desperate to sell my carbon credits – Chris you all seem very knowledgable about this matter – any ideas on how to go about this? Many thanks in advance
Fortunately I had suspicions about Eton Stanley myself
and declined thier generous offer.
I have been approached by Eton Stanley, who say they can sell my credits and take 5% of the profit (if there is one)and £50 if sold at a loss. I was wary, googled scams, and ended here. After redaing the above, I will not be dealing with Eton Stanley. I now wonder if 1.- my credits exist, 2 – will there ever be a sale and 3. who would sell them for me.
If they are totally worthless why should I pay Citadel trustees 1.6p per credit to administer them?
I was cold-called by Eton Stanley (ES), I sent a list of the VCUs I’d paid for, they replied that they could sell all of them, at over £8 each. I asked whether ES is registered with the FCA, they said “no”, apparently because CCs are not regulated”.
The scenario I was given was similar to the previous comments in this string.
I have been contacted for a 2nd. time by Eton Stanley both Lewis Coomber & David Andrews have told me that they have sold on credits for over 2000 customers. I don’t believe them and would like to know if any credits
have ever been sold.
I have also been contacted by Eton-Stanley. I visited their website in order to find out some more information about the company (and their services and I discovered an empty page asking for loggin details. They told me they can sell my credits at a certain price, then I ask for a higher price and they agreed. They said some Chinese investors are ready to buy all the credits and that they have had talks with them.If they have no office, how did they manage to achieve this. I have requested for evidence on several occassions to know if they are not a fraud company but they don’t have anything. I have seen a lot of programs on TV that shows the corruption with the financial sector and how people collect money from innocent working class citizens. They will promise to offer a service and then disappear once they receive the money. Investing in CC almost ruined my life. I started working 3 jobs in order to meet up with my expenses.No exits, every broker was asking for more money. All the sellers or brokers who lied and used false information to collect my money, which I would have used to support my family, will not go unpunished. Something will surely happen to them in a bad way. They are criminals in suit and tie. How can a human being do such a thing and live with themselves. I will email Eton-Stanley and request for a face to face meeting. I have been fool once but not this time. If they said No, then I will tell them not to disturb my line anymore or I will call the police.
@Edmund – Sorry to hear about this. Please report Eton Stanley to Action Fraud, either via the website or by ringing 0300 123 2040. They are running a recovery room scam (at least they were – the website is down at the moment). The story about Chinese investors is fiction.
i went with eton stanley and actually they charged me 862 pounds and i got over 3 quarters of my initial investment back so not so bad
How does a surety bond work as a scam.
I have an offer through the post from Vanguard Trading (www.vanguardcapitalinternational.com) They will sell my Carbon Credits for £82963.74 (50% profit) if I pay £2105 up front for Corporate Re-diversion. Has anyone heard from them and how can I check their validity.
@John Arnold – I suggest you read this post:
Vanguard Trading is running a recovery room scam
Could you please scan in the letter from Vanguard and send it to me, please? ([email protected]) Thanks!
Suspect clone of Vanguard UK Trading, offer and paperwork similar to Henderson Global, Invesco Capital, Alpha Capital and Shield Capital scams. nh