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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Diligere, Equity-Invest Are New Firms of U.K. Con Man

Summary: John Clifton Davies, a convicted fraudster estimated to have bilked dozens of technology startups out of more than $30 million, is now running a fake investment firm called Equity-Invest[.]ch and a scam due diligence company called Diligere[.]co.uk that Equity-Invest insists all investment partners use. An investment broker told KrebsOnSecurity his client paid more than $50,000 in due diligence fees tied to a supposed multi-million dollar Equity-Invest offer, and the Diligere domain was only registered in April 2023 despite its site claiming 13 years of experience.

Bottom line: The due diligence firm that is supposed to vet the deal is secretly owned by the same person making the offer, so the $50,000 a startup pays to protect itself is the actual payday. Davies has run this same play for roughly six years across multiple rebranded firms, and the only tell the broker caught was a domain name less than six months old.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Fraud & Scams
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