WE’RE WATCHING YOU

LIKE Groundhog Day, the scam involving the fake company Data Financial Services (DFS) just keeps repeating itself. It is now six weeks since I reported that victims of investment fraud involving diamonds and binary options were being contacted and told that if they handed over a few thousand pounds in upfront fees, then DFS could magically recover their losses.

There is a genuine company of this name, but the DFS that has been telephoning and emailing from a bogus address is run by crooks that are impersonating the real firm. In February, the Financial Conduct Authority added DFS to the long list of clone companies on its website, but it appears to have taken no further action to halt the fraud.

Three weeks ago, The Mail on Sunday published full details of the Lloyds Bank account used by the crooks to rake in their loot. Warned in advance, the bank closed the account within hours. Two weeks ago, I reported the crooks had switched to a Barclays account. Again, the bank moved immediately to freeze the account and then close it.

But the gang continued their scam, turning to Nationwide. Last week, I published full details of that account. The building society immediately blocked it and began returning victims’ funds. And today, it is the turn of Santander.

Victims have been told in the past week to send their payments to Santander at sort code 09-01-38 for the credit of account number 20780019. Needless to say, nobody should part with a penny. There is no pot of gold from earlier scams. This is just another rip-off.

I alerted Santander and it has taken action, telling me: ‘We welcome all information relating to potential criminal activity and use this alongside our own fraud monitoring systems.’

But just like Groundhog Day, some things do not change. The crooks still use the same telephone number, 020 7315 4076, supplied to them by Dolphin Com Limited, based in Crewe in Cheshire. It provides phone numbers to anyone who wants to keep their location secret.

There is no sign so far that the number will be cut off, any more than there are signs that the growing list of bank accounts will lead back to the fraudsters and result in their arrest.

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.