The company, Janus Options/Kinetex Limited is registered at a Long Lane address in the City of London, with a website – which at the time of writing was down for “maintenance” – of janusoptions.com.
The FCA said clone firms were those using details of authorised firms to “try and convince people that they work for a genuine, authorised firm”.
In a warning statement, it said Janus Options/Kinetex Limited had been targeting people in the UK, claiming to be authorised firm Janus Capital International, which is registered to a Ropemaker Lane address and uses the website janusinternational.com.
This authorised firm, which was purchased by Henderson in a deal expected to complete in the second quarter 2017, has no association with the clone firm.
The watchdog said to beware the scammers giving out other false details or mix with some correct details of the registered firm.
The FCA said: “This is what we call a ‘clone firm’; and fraudsters usually use this tactic when contacting people out of the blue, so you should be especially wary if you have been cold called. They may use the name of the genuine firm, the ‘firm reference number’ (FRN) we have given the authorised firm or other details.”
