In our Consumer Awareness series, we have highlighted the illegal use of genuine company names and the names of companies that don’t exist but resemble ones that do, which causes consumers no end of confusion when trying to do any checks. Included in this series have been some of the stories the “cold call scammers” have come up with to tempt you into “paying” for their “services”, most are downright lies, and others just twist the truth. Today’s article has once again been prompted by readers and includes all of the above.
As you will notice the many warnings and notices about these companies go back to 2005/6, some have no company registration yet they appear to be still operating and using those names during the “cold call”. In this case, it was Stratford Advisory Services and this led us to the list below.
The call to our readers was interesting as it involves Barclays Partner Finance and their contacting past clients with loan agreements brokered by Azure. We have already published in several articles about how BPF are arranging to refund clients, the latest is “Azure Loans Refund Process Direct from BPF”.
It so happens that our readers are already dealing with this particular matter, but according to the caller, the letters from Barclays are all fakes. This was also the line used by another cold caller from “AML”, yet we cannot find any company or reference to them.
As for Stratford Advisory Services, well as you guessed, no company registration, but several names are similar such as Stratford Advisory Group, which are financial consultants based in Sydney Australia. But we did find the following, first from the FCA and then Spain’s CNMV.
Stratford Advisory Services
Financial Conduct Authority link
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/stratford-advisory-services
Comisión Nacional Del Mercado De Valores (www.cnmv.es)
https://www.fktk.lv/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/0_CNMV_Stratford_02_2006.pdf
Calle Aribau 221 bajos Buzon 225, 08021 Barcelona
Web: www.stratfordfx.com (no longer live)
A very clear indication that this is all a scam.
In their warning, the CNMV also listed associated companies:
“Is not authorised to provide the investment services detailed in paragraph 1 and in letters a) and c) of paragraph 2 of Article 63 of the Spanish Securities Market Act, in relation to the financial instruments detailed in paragraph 4 of the said Article, including, to such effects, transactions on foreign currency. It is known that, as of today, operates in Spain. Additionally, the CNMV advises that the following persons and companies that are or have been business related to the referred company:”
Millenium Business Services S.L.
https://infocif.economia3.com/ficha-empresa/millenium-business-services-sl
The company details show a distinct lack of information, there is no sector in which the business operates, and it appears to be dormant.
Oakmont International LLC https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/oakmont-international-llc
Again there are several entries for similar names with no indication of any genuine company.
Harrington Advisory Services/Harrington Advisory S.L.
Address: c/Valencia, 214 Bajos, Buzon 119, 08011-Barcelona
There are a couple of entries for Harrington Advisory S.L. but do not show if it is still trading.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/harrington-advisory-services-harrington-advisory-sl
Berkshire International
This appears to be a case of using a genuine name after extensive searches failed to come up with anything related to timeshare, just genuine companies in different fields.
Richmond Royce Advisory Services
C/ Roger De Lluria, 137, Despacho 196 08037 Barcelona www.richmondroycefx.com (No longer live)
CNMV Warning
https://cnmv.es/Portal/verDoc.axd?t={97530dae-ad9a-4c82-b14e-8a38adf1269a}
Infocif Company Registration
https://infocif.economia3.com/ficha-empresa/richmond-royce-advisory-services-sl
(The entry shows a distinct lack of information, no business area or director listed) https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/richmond-royce-advisory-services-slu
These are all the names which originated with our first search for Stratford Advice Services, this also brought us to the following names, all of which have come up during reader’s enquiries.
Timeshare Advisory Service
(Suspected link to Stratford Advisory Service)
Business Address: The Mansley Business Centre, Timothys Bridge Road, Enterprise Park, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9NQ
Phone Number: 01789 270644
Email Address: assistance@customersupportline.co.uk
Timeshare Consumer Assistance http://www.timeshareconsumerassistance.com (no longer live)
Business Address: The Mansley Business Centre, Timothys Bridge Road, Enterprise Park, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9NQPhone Number: 01789 270644 Email Address: enquiries@timeshareconsumerassistance.com
Timeshare Advice Weekly http://timeshareadvice.weebly.com (no longer live)
Business Address: The Mansley Business Centre, Timothys Bridge Road, Enterprise Park, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9NQ
Phone Number: 01789 270644
Email Address: enquiries@timeshareconsumercare.co.uk
Timeshare Consumer Care http://www.timeshareconsumercare.com (no longer live)
Business Address: The Mansley Business Centre, Timothys Bridge Road, Enterprise Park, Stratford Upon Avon Warwickshire, CV37 9NQ
Phone Number: 01789 270644
Email Address: enquiries@timeshareconsumercare.co.uk
Timeshare Owners Helpdesk http://www.timeshareownershelpdesk.com (no longer live)
Business Address: Warwick Innovation Centre, Hawkes Drive, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 6LX
Phone Number: 01926 702789
Email Address: assistance@customersupportline.co.uk
For consumers trying to verify the legitimacy of any company which cold calls can be a total nightmare, to the use of similar names, and lack of information such as company registration although we have covered this in the articles below.
Some of these calls come literally one after the other, all giving the same “story”, again a very good indication of a scam, but the best indicator of all is that it is a
Previous articles
Scams, Dormant & Off The Shelf Companies
https://afterinsidetimeshare.com/?p=1194
Registered Companies: Genuine or Not?
https://afterinsidetimeshare.com/?p=861
A Lesson in Due Diligence
https://afterinsidetimeshare.com/?p=821
For many of us our relaxing weekend was curtailed due to heavy rains and in some cases severe storms, Baby Dog was very disappointed as he couldn’t go to the Dunes, but he did get a new toy.
