The Central Bank has issued a warning against a firm purporting to be BNY Mellon Wealth Management, the legitimate US-based investment bank.

The unauthorised entity has apparently cloned the name of the BNY Mellon business and has been operating illegally in the State for some time.

“It should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the legitimate BNY Mellon Wealth Management entity in the USA (or any other BNY Mellon entity) and the unauthorised BNY Mellon Wealth Management entity that is operating in the State,” the Central Bank said.

Certain unauthorised firms “cold call” or email consumers with offers of financial services, such as the opportunity to purchase shares in another company, the bank warned.

“These firms will often have cloned the details of a legitimately authorised firm and will quote a ‘registration/authorisation’ number, which is in fact, the registration/authorisation number of a legitimately authorised entity.”

Consumers who have been cold called or emailed and offered financial services should make additional checks to ensure that the firm is the legitimately authorised firm, the bank said.

Specifically, consumers should contact the regulatory authority to ensure the firm in question is authorised to trade, and to check that the contact details for the firm, held by the regulatory authority, match those provided by the firm.

"It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm 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," the bank added.

Consumers should be aware that, if they deal with a firm which is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from any statutory compensation schemes, it said.