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I have received an email from RAM SOLUTIONS GROUP offering to buy my shares at a higher price than I paid.

How do I check this company is genuine?

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    Are they publicly traded shares? If so, why are they not just buying them on an exchange?
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 20:20
  • Your location? Contacting you by email is illegal in EU unless they have your contact from previous business dealings.
    – Sentinel
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 20:22
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    I've deleted a bunch of comments that are really discussing an answer (which was previously posted in abbreviated form in a comment). If you really must challenge the answer, comment on that answer instead, but any extended discussion will be subject to deletion as usual.
    – Ganesh Sittampalam ♦
    Commented Mar 21, 2018 at 12:10

2 Answers 2

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Things to look for:

  • They contacted you first. You always have to ask yourself how they came by your contact. If they have a really good product, they would not have to SPAM to sell it. Clarification, due to some comments: By "they contacted you first" I mean you do not know them, it is not something forwarded by your bank/broker etc. and you never purchased anything from them.

  • They have insufficient info on their homepage. Who is CEO, what legal form does this Company have, where is it registered. Which financial authorities govern it?

  • Do they have a normal telephone-number? Does somebody answer if you call?

  • They reside outside of your jurisdiction. Always a warning sign - if you have any complaints it will be very hard and expensive to take legal action.

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  • This is a good answer, but @MSalter's answer also contains valid points. If the offer is part of a buyout or a settlement, there will be details about that with the offer, but that offer could originate from any number of legitimate third parties. There are banks and non-financial companies that intermediate such transactions or just expedite a portion of it (like finding shareholders). In addition to your points, it's worth looking at the detail of what they sent. It's probably a scam, but it's worth remembering that in the financial markets the legit folks are not great at looking legit.
    – K_foxer9
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 16:08
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I have received non-scam emails containing an offer to buy my shares, but (1) they were from the bank that manages my shares, and (2) it was in reaction to a public offer for those shares. So it was a higher price than I paid, but that is normal in a take-over bid.

Further signs of a non-scam bid: there is a public, legal document describing the offer, and the buyer mentions its own bank or financial institute. There will almost certainly be a provision that the offer is conditional on enough current share owners selling, and a reasonable cut-off date after which the bidder will announce whether it received enough offers.

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    I have received non-scam emails - The point is, you contacted them first, back when you opened your account.
    – Daniel
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 13:49
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    @Daniel: Sort of. It's not my bank who is making the offer, and I did not contact the company who made the offer. But the bank is a trusted and regulated intermediary.
    – MSalters
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 15:41
  • @MSalters Location? EU laws prohibit this.
    – Sentinel
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 20:24
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    @Sentinel, is it? Can I genuinely not contact a financial institution and ask "please convey this offer to all of your clients who you know hold shares in corporation X"?
    – Mark
    Commented Mar 20, 2018 at 21:52
  • @Mark. You are right, I misunderstood MSalters comment "It is not my bank making the offer". I am not clear now on who emailed whom.
    – Sentinel
    Commented Mar 21, 2018 at 4:54

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