We are concerned about investments involving a man-made material called graphene. Find out more and how to protect yourself.
We are receiving many reports from people who have been offered investments in graphene, which is a type of carbon that may one day be used in display screens, electrical circuits and batteries.
Why are we concerned?
We first uncovered this issue when we found evidence of a 'graphene investment firm' on the computers of a suspected boiler room. So we believe that the same firms that have sold other high risk, dubious products such as carbon credits, rare earth metals and overseas land and crops, are now trying to sell graphene.
We are yet to see any convincing evidence that there is a viable market for retail investors to make money from investments in rare earth metals.
Manufacturing companies that use the metals almost always buy them in very large quantities, making it highly unlikely they will deal with small independent retail consumers.
It has been reported to us that callers promoting investments in graphene are using dubious, high-pressure sales tactics and targeting vulnerable consumers.
There is a strong possibility of fraud with graphene because it is unregulated and it is difficult to confirm that you have bought the genuine product.
Protection when investing
Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Most firms promoting and selling investments graphene are not authorised by us. We strongly advise you to only deal with financial services firms that are authorised by us, and check our Register to ensure they are.
If you buy an investment product from a firm that is not authorised by us, you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service(ombudsman service) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.
This also means you will not be able to take your case to the ombudsman service or FSCS if you cannot sell or trade your investment in rare earth metals.
You should also search our list of unauthorised firms to avoid doing business with, although the names of the firms are likely to change regularly.
There are more steps you can take to keep your savings safe – find out how to protect yourself from investment scams.
You can also find out what to do if you think you have been scammed.
