How the scam works/Evidence it’s a scam

IFW Global has been monitoring the activities of a boiler room investment scam group based in SE Asia who are using various “virtual companies” to swindle investors in Australia. One of these scams is known as “JMS Financial”, which previously operated the website, www.jmsfin.com.  If you are a victim of this scam, please contact IFW today. 

JMS contacted potential investors claiming to be representing companies about to embark on an initial public offering (IPO). An IPO is a process whereby a company raises equity capital by offering shares to the public for the first time.

The fraudsters portray themselves to be very familiar with the IPO processes and will mention several companies during the conversation. They demonstrate a clear understanding of how the company has evolved to the point of the IPO. Following this call, they will email a professional looking company brochure.

They may enquire about your risk appetite and if there were any specific criteria of companies that you would invest in. The conversations are convivial and respectful, as you would expect to find with any real investment firm.

Boiler Room Frauds

These types of investment frauds are commonly known as a “boiler room” investment scams and are usually carried out by professional con artists, confident tricksters and fraudsters who use fake names and mask their real locations and identities, whilst purporting to be hot shot brokers for a premium investment firm, usually based somewhere in Southeast Asia.

The money is never traded or invested and is immediately stolen and laundered through “laundering agents” and “bankers” who take a commission for moving the money around the world, ultimately ending up either in cash, luxury assets, or in the personal accounts of the fraud masterminds.

 The boiler room fraud industry is successful because of the international cross-border nature of this type of fraud. Many of the groups and suspects involved in this fraudulent activity are based in Southeast Asia (mostly Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia).

Next steps

If you have been targeted by the JMS Financial scam, it’s important to follow the below steps immediately:

• Do not invest any more money.
• Report your fraud via the Australian Cyber Security Centre fraud reporting portal as soon as possible.
• Submit an investment fraud enquiry to IFW Global to discover what we can do to recover your assets.

IFW Global are specialists in the investigation of international cross-border investment fraud and asset recovery in foreign jurisdictions.  IFW utilises advanced surveillance and investigation methods to combat cybercrime and track down victims’ money. Learn more about our fraud recovery services today.