Fake banks, couriers, law firms, escrow and other fake sites used in scams.
#18169 by Trusted Friend Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:58 am
From 1 November 2009, the Payment Services Regulations 2009 came into force in the UK.

Now, any UK escrow service has to be FSA registered, and so will appear on the FSA's website at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/psdFirmSearchForm.do

The FSA is the UK's Financial Service Authority, the UK Government Authority in charge of financial matters.

At present, I only know of one genuine online FSA registered escrow service, (removed name of service - Ralph)(who charge a flat fee of £2.99, so are really good value for money).

It is fantastic that computer users can finally check quickly online whether a so called escrow service is real or not on the FSA's website (and hopefully this will save many vulnerable people the ten's of thousands of pounds they are losing at the moment).

Please publicise the FSA website service to allow vulnerable people to protect themselves
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#18173 by Ralph Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:28 am
Hi Trusted Friend,

Welcome to Scamwarners.

Thank you for the information you have posted.

I have removed the name of your site for now, our Admins may allow the link but generally we only allow links / advertisements to free services that are approved by our administrators and that are directly helpful to scam victims.

The fee you have quoted is good advice and if somebody does wish to use an Escrow service they will now have a good guide as to how much this service costs as well as UK government information on which sites are registered.

Your site being the only site registered, you should be easy to find :wink:
#20008 by Trusted Friend Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:51 am
I just wanted to update this post, as HMRC in the UK have now also released their online register of genuine Money Service businesses, and there may be one or two online escrow services running since before 2007 who will possbily not appear on the FSA register until the end of the 2010/early 2011, but who will appear on the HMRC register now.

You will find genuine escrow companies at the FSA online register at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/psdFirmSearchForm.do (try searching there for 'escrow' as an example) and/or at the HMRC online register at https://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/msbregister/checkTerms.do (removed advertising for a specific company--once again, advertising in any form is not allowed-Dotti).

These new online escrow services may offer exactly the service you are looking for, and cost only £3 or so all-in to use.

Beware, there are many, many fraudulent escrow services which look real - even quoting UK addresses, phone numbers and fake FSA & HMRC registration numbers. They look extremely professional, and any money posted to them (or goods sent relying on them) will be lost forever. So only ever work with a firm on the FSA register and/or the HMRC register, which will be safe.

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