PENMAN TOP BOND LOW BLOW
Call me cynical, but there’s something about a claim made on the website Topukbonds.com that doesn’t stack up.
It purports to be a comparison website for savings bonds offered by the banks and boasts of more than 30,000 happy investors.
Really? The website was only registered last week, so somehow I doubt it.
Among the products it claims to offer is a Lloyds
Bank one year bond paying incredible returns of 9.6%.
With interest rates currently at rock bottom that struck me as highly unlikely and, sure enough, Lloyds confirmed that no such product exists.
Just as fake are the bonds that Topukbonds is touting from Barclays with 5.75% interest and HSBC with 6.5% interest.
“The product mentioned on the website is not a genuine HSBC UK product,” said a spokesperson for the bank.
“If a customer wishes to invest money, we would encourage them to talk to us direct or discuss their finances with an approved independent financial adviser.
“Advice on how to find one can be found on the Financial Conduct Authority’s website.
“HSBC UK consistently monitors for unusual domain activity.
“We are aware of this website and are working with the appropriate authorities to have it taken down.”
Given that Topukbonds is lying about these products, I also wouldn’t trust its claim: “We ensure 100% capital protection”.
This site is just one of the latest in a torrent of online scams targeting savers.
Like many others that I’ve written about, it appeared at the top of online search results by paying for a Google Ad to give it prominence.
I tried to make contact with Topukbonds to offer it the chance to comment, but that’s not easy.
The London address it gives is a virtual office and there’s no phone number or email address on its website – something that should have made Google Ads think twice about before plugging this site.
So I used its website inquiry form to submit a request for more information about investing but heard nothing back.
Perhaps my Mirror email address scared them off.
The product on the website is not genuine. We are trying to get it taken down