My wife and I have just been scammed for $USD180000 on Gold Futures Options with a bogus website company called Bergstein Financial for 2 so called bankers  (2 x 100contracts) lots of options.  The original call came through a cold call by telephone and  we over a period of 3 weeks were encouraged to increase our "investment" from $USD5000 to $USD180000 buying up Gold Futures contracts that had been the subjecy of an order for which the original Iranian client was unable to complete the transaction due to his bank accounts being frozen as a result of the political unrest in Iran.  There was an immediate return to be had of $5770 and $5560 for each of the contracts with a total return of $577000 and $556000 respectively. 

During this time we went through a succession of people named Jasper Wayne, Michael Collins, Paul Schofield, Tom Chamberlain and Rod Neilson.

Paul Schofield a well spoken Yorkshire perosn was the so called guru who presented the 2 bankers lots (2 x 100 contracts) @$USD1000 per contract.  The results were almost instant in terms of the account with them but when it came time to withdraw the money we were constantly waiting on clearance.

Soon after I was contacted by a Tom Chamberlain offering to fly my wife and I first class to Hong Kong to meet with the Bergstein team to show that they were for real.  No such arrangements were ever made and I subsequently made a trip to Hong Kong to check the situation out for myself.

I can categorically say that neither Bergstein Financial nor the Hong Kong Financial Trading Authority exist and in fact the only organisation to verify the existence of Bergstein Financial is the Hong Kong Financial Trading Authority.

Since then I have had no further contact from them and the telephone number that I was given and used to contact them when it was all happening is now never answered.

Did I do checks before we got involved?  Yes I did I initially contacted ASIC, undertook numerous Google searches including the Hong Kong Financial Trading Authority (now I know is fake) and found a number of press releases that indicated that they were what they said they were.  ASIC had received no complaints about Bergstein Financial nor was it blacklisted with them.

The people involved are clearly very slick, know their subject very well and are obviously in or from the futures options trading industry and know all the right things to say to assure you you are in safe hands.

Whilst we ended up much deeper into the mess than we would have ordinarily have gone the people involved certainly were very convincing and persuasive and all appeared above board.

Whilst we have lost a signficant sum through this scam our wish is that no one else gets sucked in by these people.  The names to watch out for are

Tom Chamberlain, Paul Schofield, Rod Neilson, Michael Collins, and Jasper Wayne.

As a footnote the Bergstein Financial website also refers to the fact that they are a member of the National Futures Association.  This is a US organisation which registers companies and individuals.  Whilst Bergstein Financial is not a member despite what there website says, a Thomas Joseph Chamberlain was a member from 1987 until 1993 when his membership was with drawn by the Association.  In all probablity one of the very same people.

Reading some of the other blogs on this site regarding this sort of activity it is clear to me that it could very well be the same people perpetrating them all and are constantly on the move and re-emerging in a similar but different guise.

Do not deal with these people they are after one thing and one thing only.  Your money!