BlackRock is aware of the illegal and fraudulent use of BlackRock’s name, logo, identity and reputation by unknown persons/entities in investment scams, including scams relating to cryptocurrency. Perpetrators use a variety of mediums to contact individuals including, but not limited to, fake social media accounts, websites/domains, emails, texts, phone calls, mobile applications, dating applications, comparison websites and social messaging platforms. The use of names of genuine employees is also a tactic used by perpetrators in an attempt to appear more legitimate. Accordingly, you should use caution in responding to unsolicited investment proposals, requests for personal information and cold calls or emails received after using comparison websites. BlackRock does not solicit investments from investors in this manner. Please be alert to such schemes prior to making any decisions on investments.
In particular, remain alert to:
- Requests to make payments to bank accounts in the name of individuals, unusual company names or through payment intermediaries.
- Any changes in domains (emails/ websites) that occur during the course of communications. Please note that individual BlackRock employee emails end in @blackrock.com.
- Attractive returns that appear too good to be true.
- Urgency expressed to complete an investment or make a payment.
- Requests to make additional payments to release investments that have already been made.
- Poor spelling and grammar in communications or documents.
If you believe that you have been the victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately who may be able to assist in the recovery of funds and report to law enforcement in your jurisdiction.
Please contact informationsecurity@blackrock.com if you have any suspicions or become aware of scams purporting to involve BlackRock.
Be alert to an ongoing fraudulent investment scam in the UK and Ireland
We are aware of instances of unauthorised use of BlackRock’s name by individuals purporting to represent BlackRock legal entities including, but not limited to, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited and BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited and offering investment products such as fixed rate bonds. These are sophisticated scams which include the production of fake documentation including applications and prospectuses for purported Funds such as ‘Going Green Fixed Rate Bond’, ‘Fixed Rate Bond’, ‘BlackRock Institutional Bond Fund’ and the ‘BlackRock Investment Fund’. Fraudulent email domains have been created in an attempt to deceive members of the public and are known to frequently change.
Please remain vigilant to potential red flags. If you have any concerns about a proposed investment related to BlackRock please contact us on informationsecurity@blackrock.com .
The Central Bank of Ireland’s list of unauthorised firms is contained at the following link: Search Unauthorised Firms.
You can additionally review the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s ScamSmart website for further information.
Rebuild Ukraine project phishing email
We have become aware of an email campaign purporting to be from BlackRock requesting registration and participation in a project to “Rebuild Ukraine”. These emails are being sent from a variety of email accounts and domains with sending addresses that look similar to legitimate BlackRock accounts. These emails are not associated with BlackRock Inc., or any of its legal entities and we would urge you not to respond.
Please note the sender email accounts and domains may be subject to change.
