Once again we report on a “company” that purports to have funds available for distribution because of a successful court case in Spain against the Eze Group. As usual, the only real problem is that there has been no court case and probably never will. We say “the only problem” however that is far from the truth. The whole of this scam is riddled with problems, lies and deceit. Let’s take a deeper look.
How it begins
As per usual the scam begins with a cold call; no doubt the scammers have purchased illegal data of former Eze Group owners. As is normal, the victim is told they have won a court case, the very same court case that doesn’t exist and the court case they have had no prior knowledge of. Naturally the caller is no Good Samaritan and will of course want paying. Faced with the possibility of a substantial reward, the initial sum required is quite small. The call is followed up by an email from a supposed “Hatti” let’s take a look at the content:
“With reference to our conversation and the processing and payment of a non-residential T.I.E number please read the following:
I have to highlight a few pointers when carrying out a bank transfer online :
It is a company account not a personal account and some banks give you the option to click on the “box”, if that is the case please make sure you fill in the company details in the business “box”.
Make sure you give the “complete” company name and spell it correctly.
eg. it must include LTD.
So in this instance you must enter : Wealth Innovation group ltd.
Otherwise the details will not match up and hence the pop up tabs regarding fraud will appear.
The FCA from the 16 th March 2022 are now monitoring the protocol within the banking sector ; for example credit card, debit card payments, payments to individuals and companies, bank transfers domestic and international due to the fact that during the pandemic a lot of people were defrauded out of thousands because they were at home for longer periods of time.
To which I have myself encountered such problems when purchasing online goods with my credit card and transferring money into business accounts for electrical work carried out on my rental property. To my astonishment it popped up. I am a victim of fraud and have you been asked to transfer money into a holding account ?
This can be very frustrating to say the least !
The payment of £375.00 is to be transferred into the following account :
WEALTH INNOVATION GROUP LTD
ACCOUNT : 74076825
SORT CODE : 04-00-75
Can you please use your surmane for reference and email me when you have completed the transfer.
Kind regards
Hatti”
First allow us to have a chuckle before we get down to business. What cheek for a scammer to highlight the tightening up bank transfers and card payments to attempt to combat fraud when this mob is doing exactly that, FRAUD. The second chuckle is the email is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, very professional. Now down to business.
The next point that had our enquiry team rolling in the isles was the supposed court document sent to our enquirer. Firstly it was in the form of a word document, for security, Spanish courts issue such documents in a PDF format. The title of the court has all been merged together:
JUZGADODEPRIMERAINSTANCIANO.17
CIUDAD DELAJUSTICIAMADRID
That doesn’t look too good does it? The next point is that the document has a fake court stamp on it, as this was a word document it was easy to prove that it wasn’t a real stamp but a photo (JPEG). A quick right hand mouse clip and copy command proves the point and here it is:
All in all, this is the worst attempt we have seen to make this scam look real. By the way, Spanish court documents always have the Spanish coat of arms the same as the one below except they are never in colour.
A download link of the entire fake document may be found here.
Now time to carry on investigating what else is wrong.
TCA Investigation
At present there is no financial right to reply regards Eze Group. The primary Director, Dominic O’Reilly was found guilty of fraud and received a prison sentence of 3 years, he is probably out now. It is possible that the authorities may be able to confiscate any monies he has but we are uncertain if there are any proceedings in the offing under the Proceeds of Crime Act. In any case there is, at present, no further court case and no monies to be distributed.
Even if there were a court case a Spanish Tarjeta Identificacion Extranjeros (TIE) is never required, this card is only for those who are, or intend to be residents of Spain following Brexit. Just to nitpick, non residents only need a Nacional Identificacion Extranjeros (NIE) but even this is not required for genuine court awards. The bank account quoted is through a third party payment gateway known as Modulr who in turn use Revolut, enough said about that.
Rather odd that the company name is Benson but payment is made to Wealth Innovation Group ltd. On checking Companies House this company certainly exists but only formed in March this year. The sole Director is Andrew Charles Byard and the modus operandi is quoted as “63990 – Other information service activities not elsewhere classified”. We also established that Benson International Consultants Ltd is registered but couldn’t find any related websites for either. There is a company called Wealth Innovation and they do have a website but it belongs to a company in Utah USA. The address quoted for Wealth Creation seems to be a residential estate in Wolverhampton:
The email was sent from bensoninternationalconsultants@gmail.com. We ask what genuine company uses a gmail account for corporate business?
Other concerning points are that the telephone number given has a London dialling code 0207 when the registered address is in Watford where the dialling code is 01923. The registration for Benson at Companies House states “70229 – Management consultancy activities other than financial management” This seems incongruous to what they state in their letter:
1. Claims and settlements that have been through the legal system that have not been finalised and processed by a said NOTARY (a group of lawyers) who notarise (witness) overseas transactions.
However this is not our sole purpose we also deal with other issues for example;
2. Expatriates who wish to claim their UK pensions abroad.
3. We liaise with third party companies for various insurance policies such as home, motor, European travel and health insurances.
4. We also have a specialist department who can translate documentation in particular claims against Spanish banks who issued mortgages in the past with hidden clauses for example; the mortgages floor clause.
The word “claim” is mentioned many times. In general to be involved with claims and/or pension advice, other than the state pension, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation and registration is required. A search of the FCA register shows no registration exists:
A similar search was carried out for Wealth Innovation Group with the same result:
Conclusion
To be honest, we have seen better, this is amateur beyond belief. The sum of £375 will just be the beginning, if this scam follows the normal route; once the victim is hooked there will be further requests for modest sums. Spurious reasons such as Spanish VAT or translation fees etc, again small amounts but when added together can soon mount up.
Despite purporting to be UK based, we are in no doubt that these scammers are in Spain. Although Modulr appear to have their base in the UK, it’s perfectly feasible to open an account whilst resident anywhere.
Neither company has a website; the only registered company is less than six months old. They use gmail as an email address, payments are requested to a totally unconnected third party, no contact number or corporate address all adds up to a 100% scam.
For those reading this who were past owners of an Eze or Regency Shores product it is extremely unlikely that you will ever receive any compensation. Even if monies can be found it’s likely to end up as our American friends say “10 Cents on the Dollar”. For now it’s best to draw a line under the whole experience you had with Eze, being scammed once hurts, being scammed twice or more really hurts, not just financially but mentally.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk