Ticket scam awareness
Over the past year there has been a significant rise in ticket scams, particularly around music concerts. A recent example of this includes the upcoming Oasis concerts. These scams are largely targeting social media users in the UK and have predominantly appeared on platforms such as X and Facebook. The scammers are using fake or hacked accounts to make it look like genuine fans are selling tickets.
Here’s what to watch for:
- Fake profiles: Scammers often use profiles that seem real, with some having actual engagement history before they start posting about tickets.
- Payment before confirmation: Many scammers send a “screenshot” of the ticket to make it seem real, but then ask for payment upfront.
- Inconsistencies on the ticket: Look out for telltale signs like uneven fonts, barcodes that shouldn’t be available yet, or dates that aren’t part of the official tour.
We urge all clients to verify ticket sources, exercise caution on social media, and avoid purchasing tickets from unofficial platforms. You may be cautious of a stranger in the street trying to sell you tickets. We advise you should apply the same caution with any purchase through social media, webiste or unlicenced ticket resale sites.
Stay vigilant and remember to always secure your ticket purchases through authorised sources only.
APP fraud: reimbursement rules
The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has implemented new rules for UK-based clients relating to Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, taking effect from 7 October 2024.
What is APP fraud?
An APP fraud is one where you authorise an electronic transfer payment without realising it is fraudulent. APP frauds can arise from a number of sources including investment scams, impersonation, social engineering, extortion and theft or loss of personal information. Electronic bank transfer payments include Faster Payments Service (FPS) and Clearing House Automated Payment Service (CHAPS).
What do the new rules mean?
From 7 October, Nedbank Private Wealth will – following investigation – refund clients who have been a victim of APP fraud (made via electronic bank transfer between UK accounts) up to the maximum as set by the PSR where appropriate.
Defrauded clients will have 13 months from the final bank transfer to submit a claim, with more information on how to submit a claim found here.
Who do the new rules apply to?
The new rules apply to individuals, microenterprises and charities, as defined by the PSR below:
- individuals
- microenterprises (an enterprise that employs fewer than ten persons and that has either an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total that does not exceed €2 million)
- charities (a body whose annual income is less than £1 million per year and is a charity as defined by the Charities Act 2011, Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 or the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008).
Don’t let fraudsters win – your responsibilities for preventing fraud
The new rules act as an additional safety net for UK clients. However, you also have a responsibility to take necessary steps to protect yourself when making payments.
A claim will not be upheld if our investigation shows that our client:
- has been grossly negligent in approving a payment (has been reckless beyond the Consumer Standard of Caution in paying a third party).
- is believed to be attempting to commit a fraud against the bank by dishonestly claiming to be a victim of fraud for the purposes of trying to get your money back.
- was making the payment to purchase goods or services that are illegal in nature.
It’s therefore vital that we take the required steps to stop fraudsters in their tracks and protect ourselves.
Please visit the fraud page on our website, which provides more information on several different types of fraud to look out for. We also continually update our Client Notices and Insights page with the very latest techniques that fraudsters use, alongside tips on how to keep yourself safe from harm.
More information on APP fraud
To help answer any queries you may have on the new APP fraud reimbursement rules, we have created a Q&A which you can find on our website here.
As a result of the new rules, we will also be updating our Terms and Conditions to reflect the changes. We will let you know when this has been completed and will send you a link to the updated version. They will also be available on our website.
If you have any further questions on the above, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your private banker or the Client Services team on +44 (0)1624 645000 between 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday UK time.
New Fraud Typology – Fake Job Scam
Fraudsters continue to find new ways of deceiving people out of their personal data and money. A recent example of this involves fraudsters impersonating legitimate organisations, such as Nedbank Private Wealth, under the guise of recruiting for work. This can look like a legitimate job offer and could even include an interview process.
Red flags to look out for include:
- Getting contacted out of the blue without you applying for a job
- Being asked to pay for costs e.g. Visas, security screening, background checks, reference administration etc.
- Requesting your bank details
- Being approached by a foreign recruitment company
What to do if this happens:
- Do not ever provide personal details such as your CV, pay expectations, details of current work. This could also be a phishing method to gain more information about you as a person.
- Always go to the legitimate company website and see the jobs they are advertising. Please remember that a similar job being advertised to what you have been approached with does not make it legitimate.
It is important to note that most companies will very rarely recruit outside of the jurisdictions they are based, except in rare instances. So, please protect your personal information at all times and remain vigilant.
Where you believe you have been a victim of a Fake Job Scam please contact your local law enforcement authority to report this as a crime
Change of investment policy: The use of in-house funds
For a number of years, we have purposefully excluded the use of funds from the wider Nedbank Group (in-house funds) within our clients’ portfolios. The reason being that by purposefully excluding in-house funds from our selection process, we avoided any perceived conflict of interest.
However, following a recent internal review, we have taken the decision to amend this approach and allow the use of in-house funds where we deem this to be in the best interests of our clients.
The rationale is simple: we believe that using in-house funds can afford us access to exceptional expertise with the best terms, and importantly, provide greater choice and better client outcomes.
So how do we balance a potential conflict of interest with providing you with the very best our group connections can offer? Simply put, our Investment Committee applies a higher threshold to the use of in-house funds. To form part of the portfolios, in-house funds must demonstrably be better than 3rd party counterparts and that satisfy a series of criteria which show that using them are in the best interests of our clients.
We remain committed to our whole-of-market approach to investment research, and we will only consider the in-house funds that meets our extended threshold.
A good example of this is the first in-house fund we’re introducing to our clients’ portfolios: the Nedgroup Investments Global Strategic Bond Strategy Fund.
Our first in-house fund investment – the Nedgroup Investments Global Strategic Bond Fund
Since 2022 we have become increasingly excited about fixed income. Fixed income once again offers attractive yields coupled with the opportunity of capital gain should interest rates begin to drop.
As the economic backdrop is broadly favourable for fixed income, we have increased these positions within portfolios and added local currency emerging market debt. And to help us maximise the opportunities in this space, we want to invest further in a strategic bond fund, one that can invest in any type of bond.
An analysis of the strategic bond fund universe leads us to believe that the best team to manage the required exposure is the one behind the relatively newly formed Nedgroup Strategic Bond Fund (which now replaces the Pimco and Wellington funds). This is because of:
- Their combined experience and track record.
- The team’s performance in previous management roles when compared to their peers.
- Their low-risk approach to bond investing, focusing predominantly on core fixed income.
- The exceptional pricing terms offered.
Investment into the Global Strategic Bond Fund gives an exciting opportunity to benefit from two of the very best managers in the core fixed income space, at a cost substantially lower than the majority of equivalent funds employing a similar strategy.
The fee for this fund is 22bps, which compares favourably to the two funds it is replacing (42bps and 49bps), and to the average institutional annual management charge in the market for a similar strategy, which is around 44bps.
If you wish us to continue to exclude Nedgroup Investment Funds from your portfolio, we offer the ability to opt out. If this is the case, or if you have any questions, please do get in touch with your Private Banker.
However, we firmly believe that the updated approach delivers the best opportunity for clients, as we continue to evolve and improve our investment offering.
Rebecca Cretney – Investment Councillor
Don’t get caught by fake delivery messages – Fraud advice
There is a new type of scam that has impacted significant numbers of UK bank account holders recently.
Fraudsters, impersonating a delivery service provider, are sending out messages claiming that recipients have a failed delivery that needs to be redirected. These will almost aways be in the names of recognised reputable delivery companies whose brand is being misused such as FedEx or DPS.
The attempted fraud follows this general pattern:
- A message is sent asking you to pay a small fee to organise the redelivery of your parcel. This text will redirect you to a website to gather key information from you such as, card details, phone numbers, name of card holder etc, with the intention to commit
- The fraudster will then contact you either by message or phone (this could be the same day or much later) claiming to be from your bank or from the police, suggesting there has been a fraud attempt on your account.
- The fraudster will request a code that has been sent to your phone to authenticate you. However, the code that you will have been sent is actually your One-Time Passcode, which is used to authenticate a transaction. It lets your bank know the transaction is genuine but in this scenario the transaction is fraudulent.
- The fraudster may then make multiple transactions that generates a new one-time passcode each time. The victim believes that these are used to authenticate the call and, having passed them onto the fraudster, they will have become a victim of fraud.
We will never ask for a one-time passcode to pass security checks.
Any request for such a code is a fraudster. Terminate the call immediately and contact us so we can secure your account.
This is a fairly easy fraud to protect yourself against:
- Do not respond directly to text messages that claim to be a delivery service.
- If you are expecting a parcel, contact the courier directly and not through a generic message.
- When speaking with us we will never ask you for a one-time passcode over the phone.
- When we contact you, a genuine employee will be happy for you to terminate the call and call us back on our official number.
- If in doubt, terminate the call and call us back.
- You can block and request new cards through our online services.
Think you’ve fallen victim to fraud?
Please contact us on +44 (0)1624 645000 between Monday and Friday, 8am to 8pm (UK time), except for UK public holidays.
For all other times, please call +44 (0)20 8167 3223.
Nedbank Private Wealth seeks to ensure we have the appropriate physical and technological security measures in place to protect your information, regardless of where it is held. These include, but are not limited to, enterprise firewalls, endpoint protection, two factor authentication, a 24/7 cyber monitoring service, annual cyber training for staff, strict access controls and a penetration testing programme.
For more information on how you can protect yourself against fraud, please click here.
Any information about cyber security may reference Nedbank Private Wealth’s products and services and should not be taken as advice or a recommendation. We may include details of products and services that Nedbank Private Wealth does not offer in your country of residence or that are suitable based on your personal circumstances. You should seek individual advice from a professional adviser before making any financial decision.
Don’t get caught out when booking your summer holiday – Fraud advice
We have been made aware of a new type of fraud that has impacted significant numbers of UK bank account holders recently.
There appears to be a new fraud ring who are impersonating travel companies. The names of the companies will often change, but the approach is similar.
The attempted fraud runs along the lines of:
- Tickets are booked over the phone with a supposed agent of a travel company at an agreed price. In most cases fraudsters are impersonating employees of legitimate travel companies.
- The customer is then called back and told that the company has not been able to confirm the tickets / booking and so the customer must pay an additional amount for this to be rectified.
- There is no option to cancel or refund the original transaction.
A customer’s card details may be taken as part of the telephone call and a price confirmed, but the transaction processed is often for a higher amount than what was agreed.
There is no foolproof counter to this type of fraud, but there are things you can do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim:
- Check online reviews to establish if the website is legitimate. But note, sometimes fraudsters pay for good reviews on websites so these may not be accurate, or a legitimate website may have been hacked by fraudsters so this cannot be relied upon in isolation.
- Where possible use a credit card as opposed to a bank transfer or debit card payment
- If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is
- Always look for the https:// domain before making payments
- Try not to make payments over the phone
- Where you are requested to make additional payments for a refund or a rebooking, this should be a red flag that you may be talking with a fraudster
As a reminder, if you are ever unsure or feel uncomfortable on a sales call, you can simply end the call and start again.
Think you’ve fallen victim to fraud?
Please contact us on +44 (0)1624 645000 between Monday and Friday, 8am to 8pm (UK time), except for UK public holidays.
For all other times, please call +44 (0)20 8167 3223.
Nedbank Private Wealth seeks to ensure we have the appropriate physical and technological security measures in place to protect your information, regardless of where it is held. These include, but are not limited to, enterprise firewalls, endpoint protection, two factor authentication, a 24/7 cyber monitoring service, annual cyber training for staff, strict access controls and a penetration testing programme.
For more information on how you can protect yourself against fraud, please click here.
Any information about cyber security may reference Nedbank Private Wealth’s products and services and should not be taken as advice or a recommendation. We may include details of products and services that Nedbank Private Wealth does not offer in your country of residence or that are suitable based on your personal circumstances. You should seek individual advice from a professional adviser before making any financial decision.
Changes to payment cut-off times and limits
The latest update to our online wealth services includes a number of changes that will give you increased flexibility when transacting online or on your mobile app:
The daily limit for domestic and international payments made through the desktop has been removed, to allow payments of any value to be made.
Payments with a cumulative daily total of £500,000 and above will be subject to additional security checks. Payments will not be processed until we have contacted you to verify your payment. We may request supporting documentation.
Should you have any questions about this change, please contact your private banker or our client services team.
Contactless limit increase
On 15 October 2021, the limit per transaction for contactless cards increased from £45 to £100. The decision was made by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority following a public consultation and in discussion with the UK retail and banking sectors. It follows on from the successful increase in the limit from £30 to £45 in April 2020.
As a security measure, you will need to input your PIN after 5 transactions, or when the cumulative value of your transactions reaches £300, whichever is sooner.
If you have any concerns about how this change may impact you, have a look at our useful fact vs fiction list here.
New ways to manage your Visa debit card
New ways to manage your Visa debit card
The latest improvements to our online wealth services introduce a number of self-service features that give you greater control, increased security, and more convenience.
In addition to the useful ‘view PIN’ facility, you can now:
- Freeze a misplaced card
- Cancel a lost or stolen card
- Order a new card
- Activate a card
- Switch on SMS notifications
- Switch on regional transaction blocking
all through your mobile app or via your desktop. Just go to the ‘More’ menu and select ‘Card management’.
Update your mobile app today to access the new card management features, and please ensure you have given us your current mobile phone number – if in doubt, please contact us.
Your mobile app is up to date when you are using version 6.1.2. You can check your current version by navigating to ‘More’ followed by ‘Important information’. The version number is visible at the bottom of the screen.
Click here to find out more about our online wealth services.
Shareholder Rights Directive II
New European Union (EU) legislation comes into effect from 3 September 2020.
The Shareholder Rights Directive II (SRD II) is designed to improve corporate governance and encourage long-term engagement among shareholders of companies that have their registered office in the EU and whose shares are traded on EU regulated markets.
If you hold shares in companies within the scope of this directive, you will be notified of corporate events in a timely manner and have the opportunity to vote at general meetings, on issues such as board composition, strategy and directors’ remuneration.
Nedbank Private Wealth will be obliged to share information about the identity of shareholders at a company or share issuer’s request. As is common practice across other jurisdictions, the information we will be asked to share will include the shareholder name, their contact details, and the registration number and number of shares held.
What do clients need to do?
If you haven’t already submitted your ‘decision maker’ nomination form, you can download it here. Please complete it and send it back to us at your earliest convenience.
You may nominate yourself or an appointed third-party with authority over your account, such as an investment adviser. Please ensure you have their agreement for us to contact them. Where you have appointed Nedbank Private Wealth as your discretionary investment manager, we will act as your decision maker on corporate actions within the portfolios we manage on your behalf.
Notifications will be sent by email as this is the preferred means of contact to ensure prompt and direct delivery, so it is important you provide us with your nominated decision maker’s current email address.
Should you wish to nominate someone who does not currently have authority over your account as your decision maker, or you have questions regarding the impact of the Shareholder Rights Directive II, then please contact your private banker, or our client services team.
Visa secure information
MiFID II information
Access the MiFID II forms you need for the UK or access more information on the legislation, as well as the reports on the top five brokers we publish on an annual basis for each of the main asset classes which we trade.
Download the legal entity identifier form
Download the natural persons identifier form
Download the natural persons guidance
Interest rates
Please click here to access the last published rates for Nedbank Private Wealth’s current accounts as well as lending rates.
Depositor compensation schemes
UK tax strategy
Download the Nedbank Private Wealth Limited UK tax strategy here.
Brexit information
This update provides Brexit information from Nedbank Private Wealth and Nedgroup Trust.
See our Brexit FAQs for specific answers to some of the questions you may have.