On Telegram, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp, a large share of profiles claim to be “financial brokers,” “investor representatives,” or “people with bank access.” Many have no office, no licence, and no fiduciary duty — only confidence and a PDF folder.
Honest counterparties get hurt twice: once by wasted time and fees, and again when a middleman’s forged paper contaminates a real negotiation.
Licence check If someone intermediates regulated financial activity, ask for licence numbers and verify them on the regulator’s site — not on their letterhead.
Damage patterns
- Inserting fake term sheets into real conversations
- Collecting “introducer fees” before any closing
- Name-dropping banks and family offices without authority
- Pushing both sides into prepaid “compliance” steps
Standards: Scam Wire publishes document patterns and public red flags. We do not invent convictions. Names appear as they surface in tips and document trails. Independent verification always comes first.
Tips: tip desk · Archive: case files.