You’re right to smell a rat
Mrs C.L. writes: About 25 years ago my late husband had shares in a company that was taken over by Georgica. In the past eight days I have had almost daily calls from two people in the United States who claim to be involved in a hostile takeover of Essenden plc, which is what they say Georgica has become. They say that as my husband’s beneficiary, I now hold 3,285 shares in Essenden and a caller yesterday said they will pay me £13.70 per share. I smell a rat. THERE is nothing wrong with your sense of smell. Essenden plc converted to a privately owned limited company in 2015 and its most recent filing to Companies House shows it is owned by just one shareholder.
Essenden Limited controls Georgica Limited and the group owns and operates a chain of ten pin bowling alleys. Claims of a hostile takeover bid are nonsense.
All any would-be buyer need do is make a direct approach to the owner.
Your callers are fraudsters who will demand an up-front fee to cover legal costs or taxes.
If you pay, you will never hear from them again.