To coincide with the start of Scams Awareness Week, the SMSF Association head John Maroney said it is a timely reminder that there are some “extremely sophisticated” scams currently circulating that people must be alert to.
Mr Maroney himself was targeted by “ASAL Group” who claimed to be specialists in assisting people manage their SMSFs.
“It was a very slick approach,” he said.
“But the fact they claimed to be a subsidiary of a major financial institution, yet I had not heard of them, and promised returns of between 18-24 per cent just seemed too good to be true, and were two warning signs for me.
“I checked on the ASAL Group to quickly discover it was a scam, and then alerted ASIC. To any SMSFs who find themselves in a similar situation, please consult with your specialist adviser who will be able to verify whether the offer is genuine or not. And report the scam to ASIC – its website is very helpful in giving investors guidance about potential scams – to allow the regulator to inform the wider investing community.”
ASIC’s data on investment scams in 2020 totalled $328 million and 38 per cent of the $851 million lost to scams in Australia last year.
“We will endeavour to continue educating SMSF professionals, trustees, and self-directed investors on how best to safeguard their retirement savings,” Mr Maroney said.
“There are many different types of scams in circulation and our role is to raise awareness, encourage conversation and promote vigilance to limit those in the SMSF sector from becoming the next scam victim.”
I’ve saved clients 100’s of thousands of dollars is helping them detect and avoid scams using my experience, qualifications and professional skills. It’s what clients value. Yet ASIC measures an advisers worth and value by insisting on a contract that delivers an annual document clients don’t read or value. Fail in delivering that document and you have to refund client fees.
Nevermind the fact that you saved the client tens of thousands by helping them avoid scams.
Can the regulator at least be honest with themselves and recognise what clients value?
So the obvious scam offering 18-24% returns was reported to ASIC. What exactly did ASIC do? Was anyone fined/charged/named/shamed? We await for a nice press release in 5 years time when ASIC announced what action they have taken.
Only going to get worse with the Federal Government working to exit many of the experienced advisers from the industry.
I don’t think it’s “experienced advisers”….it’s just advisers..John, you’re implying the Government knows what’s it doing….Both Treasury and ASIC want to eliminate advisers full stop. Their motivations are based around their preferred advice delivery, this is quite different to the Government, which just listens to certain parties (large insto’s) that have their ear. So one is a clear tactical, thought out strategy (ASIC/Treasury) and has existed across different political parties, the other is kinda incompetence or corrupt self interest based on political self protection.