Please read this page before proceeding as it explains certain restrictions imposed by law on the distribution of this information and the jurisdictions in which our products and services are authorised to be offered or sold.
By entering this site, you are agreeing that you have reviewed and agreed to the terms contained herein, including any legal or regulatory restrictions, and have consented to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data as set out in the Privacy section referred to below.
By confirming below, you also acknowledge that you:
(i) have read this important information;
(ii) agree your access to this website is subject to the disclaimer, risk warnings and other information set out herein; and
(iii) are the relevant sophistication level and/or type of audience intended for your respective country or jurisdiction identified below.
The information contained on this website (this “Website”) (including without limitation the information, functions and documents posted herein (together, the “Contents”) is made available for informational purposes only.
No Offer
The Contents have been prepared without regard to the investment objectives, financial situation, or means of any person or entity, and the Website is not soliciting any action based upon them.
This material should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not constitute an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where or to any persons to whom it would be unauthorized or unlawful to do so.
Access Subject to Local Restrictions
The Website is intended for the following audiences in each respective country or region: In the U.S.: public distribution. In Canada: public distribution. In the UK and outside the EEA: professional clients (as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority or MiFID Rules) and qualified investors only and should not be relied upon by any other persons. In the EEA, professional clients, qualified clients, and qualified investors. For qualified investors in Switzerland, qualified investors as defined in the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006, as amended. In DIFC: 'Professional Clients’ and no other person should rely upon the information contained within it. In Singapore, public distribution. In Hong Kong, public distribution. In South Korea, Qualified Professional Investors (as defined in the Financial Investment Services and Capital Market Act and its sub-regulations). In Taiwan, Professional Investors. In Japan, Professional Investors only (Professional Investor is defined in Financial Instruments and Exchange Act). In Australia, public distribution. In China, this may not be distributed to individuals resident in the People's Republic of China ("PRC", for such purposes, excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) or entities registered in the PRC unless such parties have received all the required PRC government approvals to participate in any investment or receive any investment advisory or investment management services. For Other APAC Countries, Institutional Investors only (or professional/sophisticated /qualified investors, as such term may apply in local jurisdictions). In Latin America, institutional investors and financial intermediaries only (not for public distribution).In Latin America, no securities regulator within Latin America has confirmed the accuracy of any information contained herein. The provision of investment management and investment advisory services is a regulated activity in Mexico thus is subject to strict rules. For more information on the Investment Advisory Services offered by BlackRock Mexico please refer to the Investment Services Guide available at www.blackrock.com/mx.
This Contents are not intended for, or directed to, persons in any countries or jurisdictions that are not enumerated above, or to an audience other than as specified above.
This Website has not been, and will not be submitted to become, approved/verified by, or registered with, any relevant government authorities under the local laws. This Website is not intended for and should not be accessed by persons located or resident in any jurisdiction where (by reason of that person's nationality, domicile, residence or otherwise) the publication or availability of this Website is prohibited or contrary to local law or regulation or would subject any BlackRock entity to any registration or licensing requirements in such jurisdiction.
It is your responsibility to be aware of, to obtain all relevant regulatory approvals, licenses, verifications and/or registrations under, and to observe all applicable laws and regulations of any relevant jurisdiction in connection with your access. If you are unsure about the meaning of any of the information provided, please consult your financial or other professional adviser.
No Warranty
The Contents are published in good faith but no advice, representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by BlackRock or by any person as to its adequacy, accuracy, completeness, reasonableness or that it is fit for your particular purpose, and it should not be relied on as such. The Contents do not purport to be complete and is subject to change. You acknowledge that certain information contained in this Website supplied by third parties may be incorrect or incomplete, and such information is provided on an "AS IS" basis. We reserve the right to change, modify, add, or delete, any content and the terms of use of this Website without notice. Users are advised to periodically review the contents of this Website to be familiar with any modifications. The Website has not made, and expressly disclaims, any representations with respect to any forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.
No information on this Website constitutes business, financial, investment, trading, tax, legal, regulatory, accounting or any other advice. If you are unsure about the meaning of any information provided, please consult your financial or other professional adviser.
No Liability
BlackRock shall have no liability for any loss or damage arising in connection with this Website or out of the use, inability to use or reliance on the Contents by any person, including without limitation, any loss of profit or any other damage, direct or consequential, regardless of whether they arise from contractual or tort (including negligence) or whether BlackRock has foreseen such possibility, except where such exclusion or limitation contravenes the applicable law.
You may leave this Website when you access certain links on this Website. BlackRock has not examined any of these websites and does not assume any responsibility for the contents of such websites nor the services, products or items offered through such websites.
Intellectual Property Rights
Copyright, trademark and other forms of proprietary rights protect the Contents of this Website. All Contents are owned or controlled by BlackRock or the party credited as the provider of the Content. Except as expressly provided herein, nothing in this Website should be considered as granting any licence or right under any copyright, patent or trademark or other intellectual property rights of BlackRock or any third party.
This Website is for your personal use. As a user, you must not sell, copy, publish, distribute, transfer, modify, display, reproduce, and/or create any derivative works from the information or software on this Website. You must not redeliver any of the pages, text, images, or content of this Website using "framing" or similar technology. Systematic retrieval of content from this Website to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database or directory (whether through robots, spiders, automatic devices or manual processes) or creating links to this Website is strictly prohibited. You acknowledge that you have no right to use the content of this Website in any other manner.
Additional Information
Investment involves risks. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the amount originally invested. Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause the value of investments to diminish or increase.
Privacy
Your name, email address and other personal details will be processed in accordance with BlackRock’s Privacy Policy for your specific country which you may read by accessing our website at https://www.blackrock.com.
Please note that you are required to read and accept the terms of our Privacy Policy before you are able to access our websites.
Once you have confirmed that you agree to the legal information herein, and the Privacy Policy – by indicating your consent – we will place a cookie on your computer to recognise you and prevent this page from reappearing should you access this site, or other BlackRock sites, on future occasions. The cookie will expire after six months, or sooner should there be a material change to this important information.
Fraud and scams are prevalent everywhere. In an ever-evolving world of technology, it makes it easier for criminals to target you from anywhere in the world.
Fraudsters spend time researching their victims and often have more information about them than we think. They take advantage of an individual’s instinctive willingness to trust and use this to build a rapport.
They can be charming, understanding, appear knowledgeable and persuasive. After all, if they are successful in deceiving someone, the time spent researching them and building that trust is worthwhile.
Scams are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and fraudsters will often use names of well-known companies, like BlackRock, to gain credibility and appear legitimate.
Phishing websites
Fake websites (e.g., fund comparison websites) to obtain personal information which is then used to make contact to offer an allegedly attractive investment opportunity.
Impersonation of BlackRock employees
Using genuine names of employees that match those on regulators’ websites or senior executives.
Use of social media channels to provide alleged training to achieve high returns
Fraudsters may use social media and messaging application to target large audiences through group chats and make it appear as if individuals in the group are making high returns and that others that do not follow would be missing out.
Fake email addresses
Using fake email addresses through free webmail services or creating domains and email addresses that look similar to genuine companies.
Fake documentation
Fake documentation such as investment prospectuses, application forms and transactional information using company logos and pictures of senior management to look legitimate.
Time pressure
Pressurizing you with time-limited offers, investments or opportunities. For example: If you don’t invest by the end of the week, you’ll miss out.
Social engineering techniques
Using social engineering techniques (e.g., manipulation, influencing) to extract confidential or personal information.
Spoofing
When fraudsters make it look like a message, email or phone call is coming from a legitimate company by changing the sender name or number that you see.
It's important to be able to spot warning signs (or red flags) potentially indicating a scam.
It’s important that you can spot potential warning signs or red flags that may indicate you are being scammed. Some examples of these are below*:
Payment requests for payments to the bank accounts of individuals, companies or third parties that have no apparent connection to BlackRock or through cryptocurrency or payment wallets. BlackRock would never request such payments.
Poor spelling and grammar in documents or communications.
Returns that appear too good to be true and out of line with the market.
Emails from free webmail services or domains created with subtle differences such as the addition or removal of letters, numbers or special characters (e.g., blackrockk.com with an extra k rather than blackrock.com). Please note that individual BlackRock employee emails end in @blackrock.com.
Variation in email domains used in communications within a short space of time (e.g., emails first sent from a fake domain such as @blackrockbonds.com and later from a different email address such as @blackrockbonds.co.uk).
Switching email domains in the midst of an email conversation can be an indicator that the old domain has been shut down and is no longer working.
Eagerly chasing or threatening you to make a decision or a payment with urgency. Encouraging you to invest for guaranteed returns.
New or additional payment requests in order to release investments that have already been made (purportedly for tax, administration or other purposes). BlackRock would never request such payments for you to access your accounts or investments.
Time-bound offers which pressure you into making a decision or payment quickly.
Please note this is not an exhaustive list.
If you have been contacted out of the blue and have any doubts, do not proceed. If you feel pressurized, talk to someone you trust before you make any payments.
Fraudsters can target you through many channels such as phone calls, text messages, social media, emails or even the post.
The fraudsters try to convince you to invest in something that either does not exist or is worthless. They may contact you out of the blue or after you have searched for a specific investment, where you enter your personal contact details.
They may also pretend to be BlackRock employees or senior executives promising high investment returns. Common schemes include inviting individuals to stock or crypto training sessions on social media and offer to share trading signals. As part of cryptocurrency scams, victims may be prompted to place trades on various fake trading platforms and asked to deposit additional funds before withdrawing the returns of their fake investments.
They may send you links to genuine company websites to gain your trust, claiming to represent them. They may even use the names of genuine employees at the company or impersonate a genuine employee using fake social media accounts (e.g, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp, Telegram etc) and offer attractive investment opportunities in the name of BlackRock through social media platforms.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of investment scams can include:
The fraudsters ask for an upfront payment with the promise that you will receive money, goods or services of greater value that never materialize (e.g., a prize, loan, employment). They may describe the payment as a fee, commission, tax or administration expense.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of advance fee scams can include:
Fraudsters will set up fake social media accounts (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp, Telegram etc) either in the name of a legitimate company like BlackRock, or pretend to be employees or affiliates of the company. They may use these channels to initiate contact with you and scam you.
To appear more legitimate, they may have a significant number of connections, which could include genuine employees of the company they are pretending to be from.
Be wary of opportunities that are offered through these channels by unknown contacts!
BlackRock’s official social media channels can be found here.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of social media scams can include:
This fraud has been prevalent in the US. A cashier’s cheque is a cheque that is guaranteed by a financial institution.
The fraudsters will send you what appears to be a genuine looking cashier’s cheque or they will then tell you to send them goods or make a payment for goods or services or as part of a transaction.
They do this in the hope that you will transfer the money before the bank identifies the cashier’s cheque was fraudulent – which can take weeks.
Please note that even if the funds are showing as available at your bank after depositing the cashier’s cheque, this does not mean that the cash has cleared! It could take weeks to identify the cashier’s cheque is fraudulent so always make sure you have received the money prior to making any onward payments to avoid being caught out.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of cashier’s cheque fraud can include:
Identity theft occurs when fraudsters gain enough personal information about you (such as date of birth, full name, address history, tax identification number) and they use this information to perpetrate fraud. They may obtain this information through intercepting your post, email or from data available about you on the internet or dark web.
Identity fraud occurs when the fraudsters use your stolen identity to deceive others in obtaining goods or services. Examples of this include opening bank accounts, taking over existing accounts (bank/investments), ordering goods/services in your name.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of identity theft and fraud can include:
This occurs when the fraudsters use your personal information to gain unauthorized access to your investment or bank accounts and divert payments to a fraudulent account in their control.
They may obtain enough information about your account by intercepting your post, email, data available about you on the internet and dark web or that you may have inadvertently provided them.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of account takeover fraud can include:
Business email compromise (also known as payment diversion fraud or mandate fraud) occurs when fraudsters contact businesses by email purporting to be from a company or person known to them. The fraudsters will then request a payment or notify the business of a change in bank account details to divert payments to a bank account that the fraudsters control.
To appear more legitimate, the fraudsters may create fake email addresses that appear very similar to the one they are trying to impersonate, for example by adding, removing or replacing letters (e.g., @blackrock.com versus @blackrock.com) and may doctor real invoices or send fake ones.
Recent examples:
Warning signs of BEC fraud can include:
BlackRock’s official email domains and social media channels can be found in the More Resources section below. All BlackRock jobs for which we are externally recruiting are posted on our careers site.
You should always remain cautious and alert to the risk of frauds or scams, especially before making any payments. Here are some tips on how to protect your money and personal information:
DOs
DON'Ts
If you’ve become aware of a scam or suspect that there is a scam that is using BlackRock’s name or claiming to involve someone that works for BlackRock, please contact us immediately at [email protected].
