- Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is alerting investors about a suspicious ‘investment opportunity’ offered by an entity named ‘United Solar Investment’, through the websites: https://www.unitedsolarinfinity.com/ and https://www.unitedsolar-vip.com/, as well as through apps available on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
- The operators of United Solar Investment do not have an Australian financial services (AFS) licence.
- Do not deal with, or transfer money, to this entity.
Background
United Solar Investment promotes a suspicious scheme which claims to allow Australian consumers to purchase an interest in solar panel systems. The scheme is being promoted as a ‘financing of photovoltaic solar power generation’ offering unrealistic returns of up to 20% and unlimited referral commissions.
Why ASIC is concerned
United Solar Investment:
- Is not licensed to provide financial services in Australia, which means the Australian customers they are targeting will not be protected when things go wrong.
- Provides very little information about how profits are generated, despite sharing a lot of information about how to invest.
- Shows signs of a classic pyramid scheme, including encouraging investors to recruit new investors into the scheme through a rewards system.
What to do if you have invested through United Solar Investment
- Do not send any more money.
- Report it to your financial institution. If you are not happy with your financial institution’s response, you can make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
- Be wary of secondary scams or money recovery services that may offer to help you get your money back for a fee, these are often also scams.
- Contact IDCARE, a free government-funded service, which can help to develop a specific response plan if your identity has been compromised. IDCARE will never contact you out of the blue.
- You do not need to lodge a report with ASIC as we have sufficient information at this stage. ASIC is unable to assist in recovering your money.
- Be aware that scams may change their details so they can pretend to not be associated with warnings from ASIC and others.
For more detailed steps, see what to do if you’ve been scammed.
For further information about investment scams, visit ASIC’s Moneysmart website which includes checks that can be undertaken to see if an investment offer is genuine. However, keep in mind that these checks do not guarantee the legitimacy of a product.
Further support
If you need someone to talk to, contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours) or their crisis support online chat or
- Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 (24 hours) or their webchat
If you are experiencing problems with debt, contact:
- the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm) or chat online
Related links
ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.
Source: © Australian Securities & Investments Commission. Reproduced with permission.
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