Central Bank of Ireland Issues Warning on Unauthorised Firm - Fraudulent entity clones BaFin authorised firm, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A Filiale Frankfurt am Main

It has come to the attention of the Central Bank of Ireland (‘Central Bank’) that a fraudulent entity, calling itself, Intesa SanPaolo Bank S.p.A, has been holding itself out as a banker in the State in the absence of appropriate authorisation. In this instance, in order to deceive consumers that it was a banker operating in the State, the fraudulent entity cloned details of a legitimate firm authorised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (‘BaFin’) in Germany. The contact information used by this fraudulent entity includes the email address [email protected].

 The fraudulent entity has cloned details of the legitimate firm (Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A Filiale Frankfurt am Main) which is authorised by BaFin. It should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the BaFin legitimate firm and the fraudulent entity that has cloned its details.

A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank website.

It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm / person to provide financial services in Ireland that require an authorisation under the relevant legislation, which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing. Consumers should be aware, that if they deal with an entity / person who is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from any available Compensation Scheme.

There are some general steps that individuals should take before dealing with firms / persons, which purport to offer financial services:

• If you are buying a financial product such as a loan, insurance, investment or pension, or engaging a financial service such as investment advice, only deal with a Central Bank authorised firm / person – check our Register to see if the firm / person is registered. Always access the Register from our website, rather than through links in emails or on a firm’s / person’s website. 
• Always double-check the URL and contact details of a firm / person in case it is a ‘clone firm / person’ pretending to be an authorised firm / person, such as your bank or a genuine investment firm.
• Check the list of unauthorised firms. If the firm / person is not on our list, do not assume it is legitimate – it may not have been reported to the Central Bank yet.
• Check that the product being offered to you is present on the website of the legitimate firm.
• If you are considering buying a financial product or dealing with a firm, through a website or social media, or if you receive an unsolicited phone call, email, text message or pop-up box out of the blue, take the SAFE test.
• For further information, please visit the Avoiding Scams and Unauthorised Activity section of the Central Bank’s website. 
  

Please remember:

• the Central Bank will never contact you asking for money, your personal data or your PPS number; and
• if you are offered something that seems too good to be true, it is most likely a scam.  
  

Any person wishing to contact the Central Bank with information regarding such firms / persons may telephone (01) 224 4000. This line is also available to the public to check if a firm is authorised.

Notes to editors

The name of the above firm is published under Section 53 of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.