Lancashire-based Financial Planning firm Breaks Wealth Management has become the latest firm to be hit by clone scammers creating a fake replica of the firm’s website.

The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a warning that scammers are using Breaks WM’s details to try lure potential victims.

The scammers have been cloning the firm's site since May.

The regulator said the clone firm was not authorised or registered and has been targeting people in the UK, claiming to be an authorised firm.

The scammers have been using Breaks WM’s firm reference number to sell UK investors high-risk CFD investments, cryptocurrency and cannabis investments.

The fraudsters are giving out a mix of false details with correct details of the registered firm and are using a range of email addresses, telephone numbers and physical addresses as well as the websites https://bkwealthltd.com, and https://www.breakswealth.com.

The genuine Breaks Wealth Management (FRN: 631639) is a Financial Planner and wealth manager based in Bury, Lancashire.

It is an appointed representative of Quilter Financial Planning and has no association with the clone firm.

A spokesperson from Quilter said: "As soon as this impersonation fraud was detected the firm acted promptly by alerting the FCA, and our financial crime team is also investigating.

"Brand impersonation fraud is, unfortunately, an all-too-common occurrence in the financial services sector. Quilter has experienced few cases in the past, and we know that across the industry cases have been rife in recent years.

"Our analysis of the FCA’s warning list last year showed that more clone firm warnings have been issued in the first half of 2021 than at the same point in 2020.

"This prompted us to launch our own scam reporting tool last year, which urges consumers to flag if they are unsure of an investment opportunity found online which claims to use any of our brands. This helps us to detect the attempts quickly and increases the chance we can prevent people from losing money.

"We have also been working with industry colleagues to raise government awareness of this growing issue, and to campaign for scams to be included in the Online Safety bill. This growing problem shows why this bill must not remain in limbo. It provides the government with the perfect opportunity to require search engines and social media platforms to remove sham investment schemes from their sites quickly, and conduct the necessary due diligence to stop them from appearing in the first place."

According to the FCA register, the firm currently employs three financial advisers, and also trades as Financial Options.

Several Financial Planning firms have been cloned by scammers in recent years, including Breaks WM parent firm Quilter and other appointed representatives.

Quilter Private Client Advisers, Quilter Cheviot Investment Management and Quilter plc were all targeted by clone scammers in 2020. 

The FCA itself also warned in July that scammers were using bogus emails, letters and phone calls purporting to be from the FCA to target authorised firms and consumers.

The regulator has recently forged agreements with online giants Google and Meta to tackle the rapid growth in online and social media scammers.