25% of investors who avoid scams have watched or read about Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most legendary detectives and is linked with solving some of the most complex mysteries reported in London. This detective has inspired many people across Britain. The people who watched Sherlock Holmes have now evolved to become active investors.

25% of investors who avoid scams are inspired by Sherlock Holmes

A Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) survey shows that one in every four consumers that have avoided investment fraud in recent years has drawn their investment behavior from the Sherlock Holmes character. They now use the information gathered from watching and reading about this character to spot and report scammers.

A statement published by the FCA on Thursday said that the data from the FCA’s helpline showed a 193% increase in the scam reporting calls made over the past five years. Retail investors were also improving by the day at detecting any potential red flags in investment scams.

Because of the commitment of these investors and their timely manner of notifying the FCA about any possible scams in the market, it was possible to save investors from making losses of more than £2 million.

The new research data also shows that 39% of the respondents who submitted their information to the FCA obtained their investigative and research skills from the Sherlock Holmes books and films. On the other hand, only 32% of these investors trusted their intuition to differentiate between a legitimate investment opportunity and a potential scam.

The investors investigating investment scams also detected that 34% of the red flags were caused by mistakes, while another 34% were attributed to requests for personal information. The two were the most common red flags reported by these investors. 33% of the reports were unsolicited contact, while 26% were high-pressure sales tactics.

Scammers are using sophisticated tactics

The Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, Mark Steward, commented on this development saying that scammers were using more sophisticated methods to launch their attacks. After the money was lost to these scammers, it was impossible to get it back.

“Scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated, coming up with different tactics, such as impersonation texts or calls, and using the cost of living pressure as a way to tempt investors into false opportunities. Once the money has been lost, it’s difficult to get back, so if something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Steward said.

Steward has also said that it was a positive thing to see the majority of investors finding ways to detect any signs of a scam and assist others in detecting these scams to ensure that they do not fall victim to the same. However, Steward said that investors did not have to be detectives to identify scams as they were easy to detect and avoid falling victim.