Ask Paul: I thought I was buying shares in an IPO - have I been scammed?
Dear Paul,
How can I check if I have been scammed?
I have bought what I hope are shares in an IPO for Breakthrough Energy and Nvidia (NYSE) through Global Financial Equity Advisors, apparently based in Perth.
Through subsequent dealings, I have become a little suspicious. How can I check their validity and if necessary recover funds? - Sean
Uh oh. I am nervous already Sean. If you were cold-called by this firm and invested on this basis and email information, I will go from nervous to seriously concerned.
A lot of share scams involve so-called New York Stock Exchange IPOs (Initial Public Offering).
Part of the issue is that an IPO is what its name says - an "Initial" stage of the company and details may be hard to find, so the scammer provides reams of quality looking company information.
There is a US Tech giant called Nvidia, which has a market capitalisation of some $650 billion. It seems odd to offer an IPO in an existing, huge listed company.
In 2015, Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy. It invests in sustainable energy initiatives. Again, I am unsure why it would involve an IPO.
Their correspondence should contain information regarding your investments, including a share registry, which contains details. If not, I would go to the ACCC website and look at Be Safe, be Alert Online, which provides helpful details.
I see that Global Financial Equity Advisors has a nice website, showing offices in Perth and London.
As they are dealing with the public, they should have a licence.
I checked the ASIC database and could not find them, but it's not impossible they are acting under another licence, but it should be in their information. They may be completely legitimate, in which case they will give you their licence details if you ask. One thing that worries me is the lack of directors or key staff on their site. Most legitimate companies are eager to provide these details.
Once you have attempted to get a licence number, spoken to ASIC and the ACCC, would you let me know the result? Even if they are legitimate, I would argue that for an Australian investor, there are easier and better diversified ways to access US energy stocks such as an ETF.
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