Key points
- ASIC is alerting investors about suspicious ‘investment opportunities’ offered on www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com. The website is allegedly run by a Hong Kong entity, Cambridge Asset Management, that is operating out of Hong Kong.
- The operators of the website are not licensed to provide financial services in Australia. That means Australian consumers are not protected.
- ASIC is not associated with the operators of www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com and will never ask you to pay tax to withdraw your investment funds.
Background
The operators of www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com are promoting various investment plans in leveraged financial products on the website. The operators do not have an Australian financial services (AFS) licence and are not authorised to operate a financial services business in Australia.
ASIC has received reports that Australian consumers who invested their superannuation through www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com were unable to withdraw the funds they invested. The consumers were advised by the website operators that because of ASIC action they were required to pay additional amounts on tax to withdraw their funds. ASIC refutes this statement as we will never demand the payment of taxes for the release of investment funds held with financial services firms.
Why ASIC is concerned
The operators of www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com are:
- not licensed to provide financial services in Australia, which means the Australian consumers they are targeting will not be protected when things go wrong
- encouraging investors to invest their superannuation, which means that any loss suffered by consumers will also have an impact on their long-term retirement savings if things go wrong
- often requesting payments to be made through cryptocurrency, which makes it difficult to track and recover
- misleading consumers that the entity they represent has an association with ASIC when it is not true
- falsely stating to consumers that ASIC is demanding payment of taxes before their funds could be released.
What to do if you have invested through www.cambridgeassetmanagement.com
- Do not send any more money.
- Report it to your financial institution. If you are not happy with your financial institution’s response, you can make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
- Be wary of secondary scams or money recovery services that may offer to help you get your money back for a fee, these are often also scams.
- Contact IDCARE, a free government-funded service, which can help to develop a specific response plan if your identity has been compromised. IDCARE will never contact you out of the blue.
- You do not need to lodge a report with ASIC as we have sufficient information at this stage. ASIC is unable to assist you to recover your money.
For more detailed steps, see what to do if you’ve been scammed.
Be aware that scams may change their details so they can pretend to not be associated with warnings from ASIC and others. If in doubt, consider speaking to an AFS licensee to get advice.
Further support
If you need someone to talk to, contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours) or their crisis support online chat or
- Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 (24 hours) or their webchat
If you are experiencing problems with debt, contact:
- the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm) or chat online
Related links
- FMA Warning – Cambridge Asset Management unreasonably withholding funds
- ACCC Scamwatch
- Investment scams – ASIC’s Moneysmart
- Cryptocurrency scams – ASIC’s Moneysmart
- Scams webpage on ASIC’s website
- Superannuation scams – ASIC’s Moneysmart
ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.