MoneyNerd – Who Are You?
MoneyNerd is a website owned and operated by Scott Nelson. The MoneyNerd website contains a considerable amount of content on all matters relating to personal debt and finance.
I became aware of this website when it was identified that they had reviewed Orchard Debt Solutions. The reviews that MoneyNerd, complete of companies and charities providing debt counselling and advice. Are clearly geared towards diverting web traffic to their website.
By simply using the name of another organisation within the reviews, MoneyNerd are in most cases then appearing below the organisation they have reviewed on social media searches.
At no point did a representative of MoneyNerd contact ourselves and ask questions about our services. Or request permission to speak with clients about their experiences of working with Orchard Debt Solutions. The review was based purely on information taken from our website; assumptions made; and contained many inaccuracies.
Despite their best efforts to muddy the waters. It appears the MoneyNerd website is designed to generate leads that are passed onto commercial organisations. The details of which are disclosed within the privacy section of their website. If you phone their published telephone number the call is not answered as MoneyNerd but in the name of one of the companies to whom they introduce clients seeking debt advice.
A number of articles within the MoneyNerd website talk about seeking help from charities. At the time of publishing this article the logo for the debt charity StepChange was being used on the MoneyNerd website. Interestingly StepChange don’t allow lead generator companies to use their logo and refer to companies who use their logo as imposter firms.
There is also a question about whether or not the directors of MoneyNerd are carrying out a regulated activity. If their activities are regulated which we believe them to be. The company should be directly Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); or an appointed AR; or AR Introducer. At the time of publishing this article. There is no mention of this on their website and no records showing on the FCA Register.
Following complaints from ourselves and the threat of legal proceedings the review of Orchard Debt Solutions. Has been removed from the MoneyNerd website.
