Recognising Capital-Raising and Job-Offer Scams

As capital markets and remote hiring move online, fraudsters increasingly impersonate real firms or invent plausible-looking ones. Whether you are a company seeking to raise capital or a candidate considering a finance role, knowing the common patterns makes these scams easy to spot. Here are the warning signs - and how to protect yourself.

Advance-fee fraud

The most common capital-raising scam asks you to pay a fee up front to "release", "unlock" or "guarantee" funds that are supposedly waiting. No legitimate firm operates this way. Genuine advisers are paid through clearly agreed engagement and success fees, and capital flows directly between the investor and the company - it never passes through the adviser, and you are never asked to pay to access it.

Requests for money or unusual transactions

Be cautious of anyone asking you to transfer money, handle funds on their behalf, or execute transactions that do not make commercial sense. A legitimate firm does not take custody of client or investor money, and will never ask a candidate or client to move funds.

Pressure, urgency and secrecy

Fraud relies on rushing you. High-pressure tactics, demands for an immediate decision, or requests to keep an arrangement secret are warning signs. A genuine process gives you time to verify and welcomes your questions.

Channels that cannot be verified

Confirm that communications come from a firm's official email domain and match the contact details on its website. Approaches from free email accounts, unverifiable messaging apps, or domains that only resemble the real one should be treated with caution until you have confirmed them directly with the firm.

How to protect yourself

Verify the legal entity on the public company register, check that the named people are real, confirm fees are transparent and agreed in writing, and never pay to access funds. If you receive a message using a firm's name that you cannot verify, contact the firm directly through its official website before acting.

For how to confirm an approach from Artane Partners is genuine, see our verification page. Artane Partners never asks anyone to pay to release funds and never takes custody of money; if in doubt, check our FAQ or contact us directly.