Investment Scams
Have you lost money to an investment scam?
Common investment scams involve criminals posing as genuine investment professionals or institutions, and promoting “low‑risk, high‑return” investments – usually with artificial deadlines to convince you to act fast. If you’ve been targeted, Complex Law will help you trace and recover funds where possible.
The Facts
What is an investment scam?
Investment scammers contact victims by phone, email or social media, offering time-sensitive investment opportunities. They use cloned websites and documents, spoofed phone numbers, forged FCA details, and mocked-up dashboards that claim to show impressive returns. Any money the victim “invests” is diverted to accounts controlled by the scammers, often via multiple banks or crypto exchanges.
The law
If you’ve been targeted by an investment scam, you may be able to bring a claim for deceit, fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation, or unjust enrichment. You may also be able to obtain injunctions or court orders to freeze assets and identify recipient accounts. In some cases, you may have grounds for a complaint or claims against your bank or payment service provider if they have failed in their duties.
Your rights
Yes, in many cases we are able to help clients recover all or part of their funds – although this depends on the speed of the response and nature of the fraud. In some cases, we can bring claims against recipients and intermediaries who received or facilitated transfers, if they are identifiable. We can also pursue your bank for reimbursement if regulatory standards and industry codes were not adhered to.
Next steps
Contact your bank as soon as possible to raise an Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud alert and request recalls of any bank transfers already sent, or freezing of any cards used to make payments. Gather any emails, messages, call logs, bank statements, screenshots and chats relating to the scam. Then speak to Complex Law, and we’ll guide you through the recovery process.
How Complex Law can help
We combine fast response with focused recovery tactics: engaging banks and platforms, securing urgent court orders where justified, and pursuing claims against those who received or enabled the transfers.
Rapid response and evidence preservation
Our expert fraud team will help you identify and preserve admissible evidence, including drafting preservation letters and mapping transactions, and we’ll liaise with your bank to request recalls and freezes if needed.
Court orders and asset protection
We can use injunctions to freeze accounts, request Norwich Pharmacal/ Bankers Trust disclosures to identify recipients, and then seek court orders against identifiable receiving banks and account holders.
Claims against banks and facilitators
If red flags were missed or banks have failed in their duties under the CRM code or Payment Services Regulations, we may be able to bring a claim or complaint and secure reimbursement of lost funds.
Payments and cost control
We can usually offer fixed‑fee options for initial reviews and responses. For more complex matters, we’ll plan a recovery strategy that keeps legal costs proportionate to the amount at stake, and explain all costs upfront.
Do you have a claim?
If any of the points on our checklist apply to you, or you’re in a similar situation, it may be advisable to seek urgent legal advice.
If that’s the case, speak to Complex Law to discuss your situation in more detail and explore the options available to you.
Claim checklist
You transferred funds after a cold call, email, social media message, or online advert.
You were directed to a “cloned” firm or persuaded by fake FCA registration details.
You see rapid onward transfers to multiple accounts or crypto wallets.
Your bank refused or delayed a recall, or dismissed your complaint.
You’re still being contacted for “tax,” “release,” or “verification” fees.
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Our practice is focused on three areas of law: Consumer Claims, Individuals, and Businesses (Complex 360), making it easy to match your legal issue with the right team and strategy.
Consumer Claims
If you’ve been missold a loan or targeted by fraudsters or scammers, you don’t have to face the fallout alone. We’ll represent you on a no-win, no-fee basis.
What Others Say
Hear from our past clients
We’re proud of our success rate. Over the last four decades, we’ve helped thousands of clients secure the judgments, compensation, settlements, or resolutions they were seeking.
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This is the first time I have contacted Complex Law. It was easy and I got a quick response. I was shocked how many finance companies they found within half an hour. There was no way I would have remembered these companies.
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Really pleased with how easy it was to fill out the complaint form. The layout was clear, and the steps were simple to follow, which made the whole process quick and stress-free. It’s great to see such an efficient and user-friendly system in place.
Frequently asked questions
If you don’t find the answer to your question here, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.
You should gather as much information as possible about the suspected scam, including any evidence of payments or bank transfers you have made. This can include screenshots of the website or social media page where the investment opportunity was offered, emails, texts or private messages discussing the investment, and bank or credit card statements detailing payments made. Then, speak to Complex Law to review your evidence and plan the best response.
It’s a common misconception that once any funds have left the UK, you’re unable to recover them. In most cases, it is still worth pursuing recovery, and we have a number of options available depending on the specific facts of the case. We may be able to target UK receiving accounts, intermediaries, and platforms and apply for disclosure to trace the path of funds moving abroad. In some cases, we can use cross-border orders and liaise with law enforcement agencies and financial institutions overseas to recover your money.
In some cases, you may be able to claim reimbursement of lost funds through your bank under the CRM code for APP fraud. Whether or not you are eligible will depend on a number of factors, including the bank’s and your conduct against the Code and regulatory expectations. If your bank is not cooperative, we can prepare detailed complaints on your behalf and escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary.
The time limits vary according to the specific claim and the area of law involved. Cases involving deceit or misrepresentation often have a limit of six years from when the scam occurred, but it’s always advisable to seek legal advice immediately, as soon as you realise that you have been defrauded. The faster that we can apply for injunctions and disclosure, the higher the chance of you recovering lost funds.
If you have been targeted by cryptocurrency investment scams and transferred funds, then there are recovery options available. Depending on the details of the case, we may be able to trace on‑chain flows, seek disclosure from cryptocurrency exchanges, and apply for freezing or proprietary relief against wallets or exchanges that have received the disputed payments.
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