Protecting your shareholding

Shareholders are advised to be wary of any offers of unsolicited advice, offers to sell them discounted shares, premium prices for shares they own or free reports into the Company.

If you do receive any such unsolicited calls, correspondence or investment advice:

• make sure you get the correct name of the individual and firm, and make a record of any other information that they give you (eg telephone number, address)
• check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register https://register.fca.org.uk/ to ensure that the individual and/or firm is properly authorised;
• use the details on the FCA Register to contact the firm, if you want to call them back;
• call the FCA Consumer Helpline (0800 111 6768) if there are no contact details for the firm on the FCA Register or you are told they are out of date;
• if you are approached by an unauthorised individual or firm, inform the FCA via its website at www.fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam-unauthorised-firm

If you do buy or sell shares from an unauthorised individual or firm, you may not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.  If you have already paid money to share fraudsters, you should contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. 

REMEMBER: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!  Additionally, FCA-authorised firms are unlikely to contact you out of the blue with an offer to buy or sell shares.

To protect yourself, make sure that you only deal with financial services firms that are authorised by the FCA and always check the Register to ensure they are! 

Rightmove Safety and Security Centre for tips on how to stay safe online