01618315891

Who keeps calling me

According to another site, they are Activa, a pension review company - I've had several missed calls from them too.

I'm receiving around 4 calls a day from this number - the few times I have answered by mistake, there is never anybody there. I have no idea who they are - can anybody enlighten me to I can contact them and tell them to stop calling me

Called my wife just before Xmas and I listened in. No idea how they got the number as we are ex-directory but that does not stop these calls nowadays. Wife asked them to spell the name, it is Aktiva. It seems to be a firm in the Czech Republic but there is no website and no office number to verify this. So, told the Mrs not to talk to them further.

This lot,
https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/director/6003097/phillip-nunn
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4995625
http://www.whois.com/whois/aspinalchase.com
http://www.ccdni.com/director-patrick-michael-mccreesh

John, you have lost me with that. What has this to do with Aktiva? We asked the name of the firm and I don't recall Aspinal Chase being mentioned. Are we talking cross purposes here?
Mind you, if they call back we won't pick up again. Think the moral of the story is to visit a proper adviser personally and avoid cold calls about pensions.

I saw this last night  http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/on-demand/59588-002

I got a call from Aktiva offering a pension review of my frozen pension. I have an IFA who has reviewed it already and it is not frozen as it grows with inflation till I retire. I was told the cost of moving this would be horrendous in the long term. Of course , just like Michael Buerke says in the programme, these firms claim to be marketing firms but I checked the FCA register

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do   Aktiva is not registered and so has no permission to deal in pensions in the UK.  There seems to be a link to an unregulated investment firm in the Isle of Man, so God only knows where this Aktiva will stick your hard earned pension; Storage Units, Teak Plantations, Failed Student Accommodation Funds, Guaranteed Loan Notes, Surefire Property Deals, Car Parks, Buy to Lets?

So much for regulators protecting the public against the cowboys!

Saw it, lots of unregulated cold callers offering 'pension reviews' about.
See that Storefirst was mentioned, (other alternative investments are available).
Same guy is moving into car parks and aparhotels, all offering the same 8% for 2 years.
Loads of on this link, app 1.6m rent not been paid.
 https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01516680386/97
Also campaign about pension scammers
http://www.pension-life.com/#!vulturecampaign/cd6t

Holy xyz!
How did the TV programme miss all that? I wonder just how big all of this really is? Is it a load of firms jumping on the bandwagon or is it the same group of people with multiple scams? That campaign is no use if the press don't pick up on it or similar groups.

BBC reported it on this link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29687817
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04t6t5y
Also the Mail in 2013
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/ar ... larm-bells.html

How does this all continue if the press are involved? Any advisers able to explain why these things are not shut down? (I mean real ones that aren't from Eastern Europe or wherever)

Just need people to spread the word, this gov are doing jack and its only going to get worse come April.
https://twitter.com/campaign_big

they call me on mobile everyday even after being told to stop now I just number check and let it ring

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/ ... e-set-free.html

Genuine pension advisers do not randomly cold call the public. As soon as you hear "free pension review'', put the phone down. Free reviews are worth what you pay for them, nothing at all.

Aktiva are not cowboys, they are a financial institution based in Prague.
They specialise in bespoke pensions for clients.
I recently used them and found them very helpful and they offered a much better return on my pension.
My research showed they are regulated along with the the mainstream pension companies.
They only called me because I made an enquiry.

They are not regulated to give investment advice and have now morphed into a firm called square mile international. They certainly have no licences to deal with pensions in the UK. Either you are working for them or cannot do research.

Offered and actual returns are two different things. Why for the love of all that is holy would anyone in Britain trust a firm in Prague with their pension money? There are plenty of tightly regulated advisers in Britain. Pension companies do not give advice, the advisers do. In this case the owner of that advice firm also is behind the pension company that he recommends. It is in Gibraltar and according to the registry, the owners are apparently based in Dominca.

To respond to the last few posts.
I'm one of the co-owners of the group you are referring to & would just like to set a few points straight.
We don't (and do not appear to ever have) employ anyone called Tania so it's not a "planted" post as far as we can tell.
To clarify, Lillywhite International is a Gibraltar based company offering a range of financial services from fund distribution, to pension products. Each part of the company is appropriately regulated & run according to its licences. It was established in 2009 and we work with many major financial institutions globally. Lillywhite does indeed own Square Mile - (nothing underhand or abnormal in response to WTF) - similar set up to most financial groups ie Norwich Union / Aviva has advisory, pensions & distributes its own products - WTF would you be wary of them?
We also purchased a firm called Aktiva and contrary to a post which says we tried to hide the name we simply brought all the purchases of last year under a single brand 'Square Mile'.
Square Mile is currently regulated under an IMD license by the Czech National Bank which is passported into all EU countries. We are independently registered as an authorised EEA firm with the U.K. FCA.
Again in response to some of the posts above (and as confirmed in writing by FCA) this does allow our consultants to deal with UK pension advice where those contracts do not provide Defined or Safeguarded Benefits. Square Mile group does not invest in any single investments, they are certainly not restricted by the owners to "in house" investments. Despite the owners also having a pension scheme, our consultants are free to use any approved pension trustee & indeed they do.
We do not approve or condone cold calling & sadly there are third party firms that clone - being a large pan-European group we ourselves were subjected to such & there are statements on the FCA register which confirm that cloned firms posing as Square Mile are not associated with the real Square Mile.
We are not tied to any investment group & investments are spread around based on suitability & a clients tolerance to risk. The trustees that oversee the 8 or so Pension products used are all regulated and ensure that reasonable diligence is undertaken on anything that a client enters into. We have many hundreds of satisfied clients over the last 7 years & I am always available to speak directly to anyone with any concerns & happy to entertain you at our offices where you can view for yourselves our entire operation.
As a point of note - the Czech Republic is further west than Vienna or Munich or Geneva and as such is not considered Eastern Europe - it's Central Europe and having been presidents of the EU they take financial services regulation very seriously. I myself have lived there for 10 years as my wife is Czech and wanted our children to enjoy a better quality of life. That is the entire reason for having a Czech company - nothing sinister or opaque. Our customer service team can be contacted at any time on the numbers on www.squaremileint.com

"John" if that is your real name.

http://www.checkcompany.co.uk/director/991630/LILLYWHITE-HOLDINGS-LLC

This registered firm in Gibraltar is based in Dominica, it seems that this nation has privacy laws that shield the identities of owners and directors of offshore companies incorporated in Dominica.

Sinister or opaque? You choose.

And this Square Mile firm, owned by two firms.The one above and another at the same address in Dominica.

What happened to this ATSG firm? No accounts ever filed.

I refrained from making a comment as I felt John clarified things, fool that I was.

Thanks for posting. Just goes to show, go with your initial gut feeling and you won't go far wrong.