Carter & Campbell claims to offer “Investment you can trust, experience that produces results and a client focussed company.” The reality is that it is running a recovery room scam.
Here’s the evidence:
- Carter & Campbell is cold calling people claiming that it can sell their near-worthless carbon credits. No legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice.
- The deal that Carter & Campbell is offering is a transparently obvious scam. Someone called “Tom Arnott” left a comment on REDD-Monitor explaining that the company had contacted him:
“I have been recently been contacted by a company called Carter & Campbell who were going to make me money by converting the useless VER’s that I was sold last year to CER’s which will be worth over £11 per unit, they would charge 10% of the promised value of CER’s for this service, of course the payment was to be made up front.”
Carter & Campbell’s offer is nonsense. There is no way of “converting” voluntary carbon credits (VERs) to compliance carbon credits (CERs). Even if there was, the settlement price for CERs on the EEX on 21 February 2014 was €0.33 – considerably less that the £11 that Carter & Campbell claim they will be worth.
- The fact that Carter & Campbell are asking for an advance fee is the most obvious indication that this is a scam. An advance fee of 10% of a completely fictitious price for CERs makes no sense whatsoever – except to Carter & Campbell.
- Despite the claim on the company’s website to offer “experience that produces results”, the company was actually only registered less than four months ago.
- A search on Google for the director’s name “Andrew Campbell” and the word “carbon” does not reveal any previous experience in carbon trading.
- The name “Andrew Campbell” does not appear anywhere on the company’s website. Instead, the company lists four people in its team, and gives photographs. But the photograph of “Jonathan Bentley” is actually a photograph of Barry Sexton, the Director and Chief Financial Officer of Northwestern University in Qatar. And the photograph of “Elaine Spence” is actually a photograph of Melodie Karge, the Business Manager at a company called Southern Minnesota Periodontics PA in the USA.
- At the bottom of each page on Carter & Campbell’s website is a note about copyright:
A commenter on REDD-Monitor called “john arnold” suggested that this means the company has existed since 2008. Of course, all it means is that someone has typed in the number 2008 into a website. The company’s website was actually registered on 9 January 2014. It was registered anonymously.
If Carter & Campbell rings you, REDD-Monitor’s advice is to put down the phone. Then contact Action Fraud:
Chris
I have had another call from Carter and Campbell and have discussed your comments with them. Inevitably they have an answer for all which sound feasible. ie The company name changed slightly and one of the original directors John Carter has now left to set up a hedge fund leaving Andrew Campbell as the sole director.
The issue of value is based on contracts signed in 2011 which were signed for differing amounts.
I have also been offered an exit for a reduced number of credits at a lower price & cost in July
The main issue is the validity of any contracts placed in 2011 and the validity of the Static Holdings Exchange Program which converts the VER’s
I have a hard copy of an Underwritten Guarantee & Buy Back Agreement signed and dated which states that I will pay £4,994.60 deposit and will receive £49,946.60
on 30th sept 2014.
Sounds too good to be true !
Also the terms and conditions attached to the agreement mainly refer to purchase of commodities, delivery and storage, which hardly pertains to carbon credits.
I cannot find enough reliable info on this company to convince me that I should part with more money but fail to see what I can do with the Contract / Guarantee I have, unless I go ahead.
Not much point in involving the fraud squad if I cannot prove I have been subject to fraud!
@john arnold – Please contact Action Fraud about this company. Send them a copy of the “underwritten Guarantee & Buy Back Agreement”. It is too good to be true. It’s an advanced fee scam.
Carter & Campbell was incorporated in the UK on 30 October 2013. I’ve just looked up the Incorporation Document at Companies House. There has only ever been one director of Carter & Campbell: Andrew Campbell.
The address of the company is Dashwood House business centre, which offers serviced as well as ‘virtual offices’ with a local phone number and a dedicated receptionist. I get the feeling this company might be the latter; virtual..
http://www.servcorp.co.uk/en/locations/london/dashwood-house
It is unfortunate that companies like Carter & Campbell are out there, giving legitimate carbon companies a bad name. Why don’t buyers do a little bit of basic research into the company and market before parting with their cash though?
“No legitimate company would cold call you with financial advice” – I disagree. I do it quite often.