UK Insolvency Service warns wine investment victims about recovery scammers

The UK Insolvency Service has warned investors who lost money through a wine investment scheme that scammers are making false claims they can recover their lost funds, as reported on Thursday, September 29.

The UK Insolvency Service has warned wine investment victims about recovery scammers in a statement that read:

“The Insolvency Service has been made aware that victims of a wine investment scheme set-up by Global Wine Exchange have been targeted by recovery room scammers with false promises they can return their lost funds.”

“Global Wine Exchange was put into compulsory liquidation in March 2022 after the courts determined that the rogue company abused £1.9 million of investors’ funds. Misconduct caused by Global Wine Exchange included targeting elderly and vulnerable people, failure to deliver wine to customers, and false claims that wine was stored.”

“It has since been uncovered investors who lost money through Global Wine Exchange have been targeted by recovery room scammers, falsely posing as officials from a trading standards professional body.”

The scammers dishonestly claim that if the investors do not engage with them and share personal details about their claim in the liquidation, which only the Official Receiver as liquidator can receive, their funds will not be returned.

Senior Examiner, Mark Ireson, stated:

“Recovery room scammers deceitfully impersonate a legitimate corporate entity and claim they are acting on their behalf to help you recover lost fees. In the Global Wine Exchange case, the scammers are sending emails from what look like official trading standards accounts.”

“We strongly urge Global Wine Exchange investors to ignore these messages and report them straight to the Official Receiver.”

“The Official Receiver will never ask you to pay an up-front fee to get your investment back and as liquidator, the Official Receiver is the only person that can distribute available funds.”

The news follows reports of the UK Foreign Secretary’s visiting Korea to focus on boosting trade, increasing security and strengthening the ties of friendship between the UK and Korea, as reported on Wednesday, September 28.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.