Goodbody is aware of the ongoing, illegal and fraudulent use of the identity of many legitimate firms, including investment firms, by unknown persons or groups for the purposes of executing investment scams designed to defraud members of the public. Such scams include seeking to sell fictitious financial products, accompanied at times by falsified prospectus documents.

Fraudsters use a variety of means to contact members of the public including cold-calls, email, social media, text messages, WhatsApp messages and pointing to websites/domains, social media accounts and other platforms. On occasion, the names of real staff members from the legitimate firms are used.

Goodbody does not engage members of the public seeking to sell its products or services in this way.

The Central Bank of Ireland has stated that “Fraudsters are increasingly using legitimate firms’ details to add an air of legitimacy to their fraud. The fraudsters will 'borrow' some or all of the legitimate information of an authorised/legitimate firm for the purpose of this fraud. They may quote authorisation numbers/company registration numbers and links to seemingly legitimate websites and even provide the real address of an authorised/legitimate firm. Consumers are advised to check our register to verify a firm’s details and to call the firm back directly using its advertised phone number. Always access the register from our website, rather than through links in emails or on a firm’s/person’s website.”

A link to the Central Bank of Ireland’s register is provided here

A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank of Ireland’s website here

At Goodbody, we are committed to helping you to protect yourself against the threats associated with digital and other types of fraud. For existing customers, Goodbody staff will never:

• Send you a text, social media message or email with a link directly to the login page of your online account.
• Ask you to click a link in an email with an urgent warning about suspicious activity on your account.
• Contact you and ask you to share or send us your Goodbody Online Username or Password.
• Ask you to transfer money out of your account to protect yourself from fraud.
• Ask you to complete a test transaction.
• Ask you to tell us any ‘one-time’ password or code that you have received from us by text.

For your information, Goodbody’s contact details are provided on this website and all employee email addresses end in @goodbody.ie or @goodbody.co.uk