Warning on Unauthorised Firm – Best Loans/Best Loans Ireland Limited (Clone)

The Central Bank of Ireland (‘Central Bank’) today 7 November 2019 published the name of an unauthorised firm, Best Loans/Best Loans Ireland Limited (Ireland) – www.bestloans.ie (website no longer available) in order to warn the public that it is not authorised by the Central Bank to provide financial services.

Best Loans/Best Loans Ireland Limited was advertising loans on its website and claiming to be regulated by the Central Bank but it holds no authorisation from the Central Bank as a retail credit firm or as a moneylender or otherwise. 

Best Loans/Best Loans Ireland Limited also cloned the Irish Company Registration Office (‘CRO’) number and address of a Central Bank authorised firm. It should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the Central Bank authorised firm and the unauthorised entity, Best Loans/Best Loans Ireland Limited, which has cloned its details. 

A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank website.

It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation, which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing. Consumers should check the Central Bank registers online to find out if a firm/person they are dealing with is authorised. Consumers should be wary of advertisements offering loans from unauthorised firms or persons.

There are some general steps that individuals should take before dealing with firms/persons which purport to offer financial services:

• If you wish to obtain a financial product such as a loan, insurance, investment or pension, or if you wish to obtain a financial service such as investment advice, you should only deal with a Central Bank authorised firm/person – check our Register to see if the firm/person is authorised. Always access the Register from our website, rather than through links in emails or on a firm’s /person’s website. 
• Always double-check the URL and contact details of a firm/person in case it is a ‘clone firm/person’ pretending to be an authorised firm/person, such as your bank or a genuine investment firm.
• Check the list of unauthorised firms. If the firm/person is not on our list, do not assume it is legitimate – it may not have been reported to the Central Bank yet.

Fraudsters are increasingly using legitimate firms’ details to add an air of legitimacy to their fraud. The fraudsters will 'borrow' all of the legitimate information of an authorised/legitimate firm for the purpose of this fraud. They may quote authorisation numbers/company registration numbers and links to seemingly legitimate websites and even provide the real address of an authorised/legitimate firm. Consumers are advised to check our register to verify a firm’s details and to call the firm back directly using its advertised phone number.

Any person wishing to contact the Central Bank with information regarding such firms/persons may telephone (01) 224 4000. This line is also available to the public to check if a firm is authorised. Since obtaining the necessary legal powers in August 1998, the names of 367 unauthorised firms have been published by the Central Bank.

For further information, please visit the Avoiding Scams and Unauthorised Activity section of the Central Bank’s website.