Did you notice this company? Probably not.
This is the latest in a long list of stock trading companies that called me from overseas trying to sell me stocks (in this case, they start with Quantum, a company offering battery and battery management solutions - actually a good company).
What is funny about it is that they are not existing on Internet. What would you think of a company asking for your money (for a good investment, of course) while the web site has been created less than a month ago, and that virtually does not exit (Google produces no result for the search of “International Zurich Gruppe” - except this web page now and only two results for the search of “Internationale Zurich Gruppe”).
I suggest a lot of attention and circunspection to all investors when they are contacted by a company they don’t know and they are told “how about starting with a limited amount of money to test us?”
|
Other similar articles:
|
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:31
Yes,
They have contacted me. The hurried and hysterical tone of the contact alarmed me.
The company they propose I invest in is genuine enough, if highly risky, possibly a fair investment, but the organisation itself is vague.
Any genuine company starts off by sending out their terms of business, naming their regulator etc., and can provide references. Zurich don’t.
As with ostrich farms etc, it is difficult to be confident that one can get your money out.
August 2nd, 2006 at 15:08
Actually, if you add an “e” to end of “international”, you get one hit - their website.
August 2nd, 2006 at 20:35
As you say: It is difficult to be confident. I was specifically surprised that their name (International Zurich Gruppe or Internationale Zurich Gruppe) did not even appear in any Internet-public database of Swiss companies…
No proof, but this looks funny to me, even if the companies they suggest seem to be fairly legal, sound and normal ones.
September 17th, 2006 at 18:51
They contacted me & I have invested through them with a listed company which is trading well. My concern is that I have an Equity & Open Position Report listing my shares, but no actual share certificates. They are contactable by telephone & all enquiries are answered, and all their paperwork has followed through.
Should I have actual share certificates from the company I have invested with?
September 18th, 2006 at 10:29
I am not a lawyer, and my advice may not be as sound as one coming from a professional, but here is what I believe you should be interested into.
Actual share certificates (paper ones) are becoming more and more uncommon and they are no longer the normal case for companies listed on major Stock Exchanges. So, having a “reports” or “listings” is a normal situation.
If the shares are listed in the company that you invested into, you should be able to get a confirmation directly from the company to get some reassurement.
If the shares are listed at IZG, it is somewhat less easy but you could also check with the listed company to be sure that you are identified as a share-holder.
Personally, I would not leave shares in an account I do not feel completely secure about (a major brokerage agency, a bank), but it’s a personal choice. In this case, since IZG is considering itself as only an intermediary, they should make no difficulty to help you transfer your shares to your bank account or to some broker where you already have an account. I can imagine that there would be some minor fees associated and this would be normal.
Usually, the less expensive option, but less flexible, is to leave the shares in the listed company books (usually no fees at all). The most flexible is to have your shares in a broker account: They can be negociated at any time on any of the markets where they can be admitted (but most brokers require a yearly fee to hold them).
So, “actual share certificates” is no longer a pre-requisite for your safety. I do have American shares that were transformed from paper certificates to pure electronic listing form a few years ago without any negative impact (actually, pure electronic reduces handling costs - as credit cards improved over paper checks).
September 28th, 2006 at 16:45
I hope I’m wrong but I think this is a scam. A friend has been sucked in by them for quite a lot of money. He was getting uneasy and finally spoke to me. I’ve checked out one share certificate “Apollo Resources” with the company. They have just advised that it is not authentic. I found your comments when searching the web for guess who!! The guy is quite elderly and the money involved was a frightening chunk of his life savings. If anyone has any ideas of where to go from here I’d be pleased to hear it.
September 28th, 2006 at 18:30
I’m pretty sure that courts/police would be interested to know about it. Even if foreign locations usually help in porotecting scammers (the worst case I’ve got was a company headquartered in Netherlands, with main offices in Switzerland, and a guy calling from Spain using a hidden phone number).
If the amount is large enough any police officer (in any country) will be interested in checking on the issue and possibly pushing the file up to the adequate level.
But, chester, your move of checking the certificate was certainly the right ones. It’s quite easy to print nice paper and send it around to people who would be giving their money.
October 2nd, 2006 at 13:21
I HAVE HANDED OVER SOME OF MY HARD EARNED CASH TO IZG BUT I DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENTE THAT IT WILL RETURN.I AM NOW TRYING TO MAKE CONTACT TO SELL MY SHARES BUT HAVE NOT HAD ANY SUCCES SO FAR
October 3rd, 2006 at 17:05
They will only contact you again when they think the time is right to get you to part with more money. Their chat is extremely persuasive but don’t get sucked in. I suspect you can write off your investment with them.
Concerning Yves comments, I’m afraid the police were not particularly helpful. Whilst the sums involved are very significant to the individual, it seems that the police are reluctant to get involved due to the international scope of the operation. (Far too busy nicking speeding motorists, says my cynical side). I am aware of a couple of other victims in the UK but the policing problem here is that due to lack of resourses, they are reluctant to take something on unless it is in their area. Consequently you end up with several local police areas each dealing with a relatively small crime as opposed to one police area dealing with the whole issue.
October 3rd, 2006 at 20:06
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Sweedish financial authority has issued a warning against the IZG.
More details: http://www.roumazeilles.net/news/en/wordpress/2006/10/03/internationale-zurich-gruppe-it-is-illegal-in-sweeden/
October 10th, 2006 at 15:58
****IMPORTANT INFORMATION-PLEASE READ****
I am posting this message in my capacity as in-house legal counsel of the Zurich Financial Services Group (“Zurich”). Zurich is a leading insurance-based financial services provider worldwide with its registered head-office in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich has built up a substantial goodwill and reputation in the ZURICH name in the insurance and financial services market in Europe and throughout the world.
Please be informed that “Internationale Zurich Gruppe” (“IZG”) and “First Zurich Group” are in no way associated with Zurich. To our understanding, the above mentioned organizations are not authorized by the FSA (the UK Financial Services Authority) to provide financial services. In addition, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Finansinspektionen, posted on its website the following warning regarding “Internationale Zurich Gruppe”: http://www.fi.se/Templates/Page____6469.aspx
Zurich has informed the relevant authorities about their possibly illegal conduct. If you have been affected by activities of one of these organizations we recommend that you contact the Metropolitan Police at ‘fraud.alert@met.police.uk’, webpage http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/.
Thank you.
Konrad Meier
Group Legal Department
Zurich Financial Services
Zurich, Switzerland
October 19th, 2006 at 13:06
I have been trading with IZG and have been dealing a very affable American fellow who I believe was on the brink of extracting a large sum of money from me when he made the fatal mistake of telling me that he was earning too much money and didn’t need my little bit of commission.
His patter was similar to other rogues i.e. buy shares in a company below market value, i.e. Motorola at $17 when you know the correct price should be $25. Sell out, good profit, reinvest in a second trade i.e. Haliburton, then the cobra strikes - fangs blazing, fantastic opportunity, need to invest £200,000 for very large return immediately, please send telegraphic transfer and kiss your money goodbye.
March 11th, 2007 at 22:48
It looks like I have fallen for this. I was persuaded to invest in Griffin Mining, which I have every confidence in, and which has risen in share value since I parted with my money to IZG. I have all the paperwork IZG sent but no share certificate which was when I started to make further enquiries and found this site. Hope I am wrong but I have that sinking feeling.