Central Bank of Ireland Issues Warning on Unauthorised Firm – Fraudulent entity clones Central Bank of Ireland authorised firm Blackstone Loan Financing Limited

It has come to the Central Bank of Ireland’s (‘Central Bank’) attention that a fraudulent firm has cloned the details of a Central Bank authorised firm, Blackstone Loan Financing Limited, and has been operating as a Retail Credit Firm and/or a High Cost Credit Provider in the State in the absence of an appropriate authorisation.  The fraudulent entity, Blackstone Financing Limited, advertises loans on its website but it holds no authorisation from the Central Bank as a Retail Credit Firm or as a High Cost Credit Provider. This scam is an example of an ‘advance fee fraud’, where an upfront payment fee is sought prior to a loan being provided. The loans are never provided.

The unauthorised firm is operating the website https://blackstonefinancinglimited.com/ and the contact information used by this unauthorised firm includes:

• the email addresses: 
• [email protected]; and
• [email protected]

the telephone numbers:

• +353 1 254 9427;
• +353 89 968 6628;
• 089 965 1847;
• 089 967 2296;
• 089 964 6313; and
• 089 967 2296.

The unauthorised entity, Blackstone Financing Limited, has cloned the details (name and Central Bank registration details) of two legitimate firms authorised by the Central Bank and it should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the Central Bank authorised firms and the scam entity, Blackstone Financing Limited, that has cloned its details.

The scam entity is connected to other fraudulent entities similarly carrying out advance fee fraud scams under the names Alpha Finance Ood, Ark Finance, Balanced Finance, Bridging Loans, City-County Finance, Finance One Ltd and First Start Finance Limited.

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 would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation, which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing.  Consumers should check the Central Bank registers online to find out if a firm / person they are dealing with is authorised.  Consumers should be wary of advertisements offering loans from unauthorised firms or persons.

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

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.

Ends

Notes to editors

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