This ‘asset recovery’ firm is scam No 2

S.M. writes: I was taken in by a scam involving Redthorne Realisations Limited. Now I have been called by Richard Thorpe, of Asset Recovery Consultants Limited, but I feel strongly that this is a follow-on scam.

ACCORDING to an email from Richard Thorpe, his company has been appointed as the liquidator of Redthorne Realisations, which was wound up by the High Court in 2018. The company’s assets have been seized, he says, and you can be compensated if you supply copies of your passport, card statements, and so on, as proof of identity. You are also expected to pay 15 per cent ‘for the liquidator to begin realisation of assets’. And that, of course, is the scam.

The real liquidator of Redthorne Realisations is the Official Receiver, whose office confirmed to me that Asset Recovery Consultants has absolutely no involvement in this. However, there really is a company called Asset Recovery Consultants. It is based in Swindon, and cheekily, the fraudster calling himself Thorpe has used its company details and a Swindon telephone number in his email. The boss of the genuine company, Stephen Hales, told me: ‘I can confirm we do not employ Richard Thorpe, and I have never heard of him.’

My own enquiries suggest that calls to the fake firm’s Swindon number – 01793 230406 – have been diverted offshore.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co. uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.