Fake ISA webpage?

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Not quite a Newb Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 23

I've recently been researching Cash ISAs, and came across this from an advert on google. Something struck me as a little dodgy about this page, especially as it seems entirely devoted to ISAs. The company it claims to be affiliated with (Oakwood Capital Ltd) exists, but is this actually a genuine website? I've googled "sterling capital" and nothing points to this address. Furthermore, the ".eu" domain is a bit odd too. Am I being overly cynical? If you get time, please do cast your expert eyes over this one and let me know your opinion (for the record, there's no way I'm going to invest with them anyway - just smells far too dodgy even if it's real!!):

http://www.sterlingcapital.eu/

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 571

Whois:

Code:

$ whois sterlingcapital.eu
% .eu Whois Server 1.0
%
% (c) 2005 (http://www.eurid.eu)
%
% The WHOIS service offered by EURid and the access to the records
% in the EURid WHOIS database are provided for information purposes
% only. It allows persons to check whether a specific domain name
% is still available or not and to obtain information related to
% the registration records of existing domain names.
%
% EURid cannot, under any circumstances, be held liable in case the
% stored information would prove to be wrong, incomplete or not
% accurate in any sense.
%
% By submitting a query you agree not to use the information made
% available to:
%
% - allow, enable or otherwise support the transmission of unsolicited,
% commercial advertising or other solicitations whether via email or
% otherwise;
% - target advertising in any possible way;
%
% - to cause nuisance in any possible way to the registrants by sending
% (whether by automated, electronic processes capable of enabling
% high volumes or other possible means) messages to them.
%
% Without prejudice to the above, it is explicitly forbidden to extract,
% copy and/or use or re-utilise in any form and by any means
% (electronically or not) the whole or a quantitatively or qualitatively
% substantial part of the contents of the WHOIS database without prior
% and explicit permission by EURid, nor in any attempt hereof, to apply
% automated, electronic processes to EURid (or its systems).
%
% You agree that any reproduction and/or transmission of data for
% commercial purposes will always be considered as the extraction of a
% substantial part of the content of the WHOIS database.
%
% By submitting the query you agree to abide by this policy and accept
% that EURid can take measures to limit the use of its WHOIS services
% in order to protect the privacy of its registrants or the integrity
% of the database.
% % WHOIS sterlingcapital
Domain: sterlingcapital
Status: REGISTERED
Registered: Thu Feb 15 2007

Registrant:
Please visit www.eurid.eu for webbased whois.

Registrar:
Name: Tucows.com Co.
Website: domainhelp.tucows.com/

Nameservers:
ns2.fast-hosts.org
ns1.fast-hosts.org

Registered just a week ago and on a shared hosting plan on http://www.fasthosts.co.uk, seems fake to me, but wait for confirmation from someone else here before doing anything please.

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:27 pm

If they claim to be affiliated with Oakwood Capital Ltd, contact them and let them confirm it or have the site taken down. They would have more weight to do something about it anyway.

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 6:13 pm

Sterling Capital is not listed by FSA. Oakwood is and would seem genuine.

Sterling give the same fax number as Oakwood and the same address, but the contact phone number is not the same.

Whois for Oakwood

WHOIS results for oakwood-group.co.uk
Generated by www.DNSstuff.com

Found WHOIS server for .uk: whois.nic.uk. Looking up.

Domain name:
oakwood-group.co.uk

Registrant:
DXSolutions Ltd

Registrant type:
Not supplied

Administrative contact's address:
Oakwood Capital Limited
Gardiner House
3-9 Broomhill Road
London
UK
SW18 4JQ

Registrant's agent:
Fasthosts Internet Ltd [Tag = FASTHOSTS]
URL: http://www.fasthosts.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 19-Feb-2002
Renewal date: 19-Feb-2008
Last updated: 04-Oct-2005

Registration status:
Registered until renewal date.

Name servers:
ns0.dxsolutions.co.uk
ns1.dxsolutions.co.uk

WHOIS lookup made at 18:10:58 25-Feb-2007

--
This WHOIS information is provided for free by Nominet UK the central registry
for .uk domain names. This information and the .uk WHOIS are:

Copyright Nominet UK 1996 - 2007.

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 9:19 pm

.eu is a Europe domain suffix, that's fine.

However the website http://www.sterlingcapital.eu/index.htm looks a bit amateurish and I would expect a reputable financial company to be more accurate with grammar and syntax.

I dialled the 0870 number and it went through to a very English sounding woman, probably a call centre. If it's a scam, it's elaborate and well done.

A call to the real Oakwood Capital would soon reveal all.

On balance of probablity I'd say it's genuine but I haven't spent a lot of time on it.

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:13 am

This gets more interesting because this firm does not show up on the FSA website, nor does the registration number (3758888) appear to be real as their numbers have 6 digits.

I have emailed Oakwood and let's see what comes back.

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:06 am

Quote:

Thanks for your email.

The FSA registration number is 195039. The number below is the Oakwood Capital Limited Companies House registration number.

Please let us know if we can assist further with our offerings.

Kind regards

Charles Marston
Director, Oakwood Capital Limited
Sterling Capital in the direct sales division of Oakwood Capital Limited.
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Oakwood Capital Limited
3-9 Broomhill Road
London
SW18 4JQ
Tel: +44 (0)208 871 4290
Fax: +44 (0)208 871 5031
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sterlingcapital.eu

Not quite a Newb Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 23

Thanks for all the input into this. A colleague of mine called Oakwood Capital up (+44 (0)208 871 4290) to ask whether Sterling Capital is affiliated with them. The answer was yes, and he was transferred to (or rather, it seemed the phone receiver was manually given to someone at) Sterling Capital (where the website address was also confirmed). However, the guy who spoke to him was, in the words of my colleague, extremely aggressive, defensive and suspicious of the call - continually demanding to know my colleague's name, contact number and his interest in the call. My colleague repeated that he was just personally unsure as to the validity of the website and wanted to check it all out, and that it was a fairly reasonable clarification call in his opinion - at which point the guy on the other end started talking about slander and how, in his opinion, my colleague was a competitor trying to gain confidential information!! He then started demanding to know his name and contact number! Absolutely mind blowing - that's customer service for you!

I was with my colleague and I can confirm that he was completely calm and reasonable - it's a completely normal question to ask for anyone thinking about investing their life savings! I suppose you have to laugh - corporate paranoia.

Either way, I now think this is a legal entity. However, I don't know much about this Oakwood Capital (who don't have a website) or their size/reserves; the nature of the response to the call (and the way the Sterling Capital guy appeared to be sitting next to the person at Oakwood Capital), to me, does not suggest a particularly professsional outfit - and that's being kind!!

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:00 pm

I think we all get the same feeling about this. It may be genuine but it seems unprofessional.

I am left with a nagging doubt. According to a nice man in Spain who's just emailed me, I've won a million pounds in a Lottery and I don't think I'll be investing it with Oakwood Capital, let alone Sterling Capital!

Not quite a Newb Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 23

^^

Agree completely!

419Eater is my life Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 482

Just a minor correction here. EU is the TLD registered to the "European Union" - not the more general Europe. However, having that domain registered in the .eu TLD would lend it no more legitimacy than any other TLD such as .us or .uk or .info. The domain registrar just gets paid for registering a domain, regardless of its TLD.