As global fortunes grow, so too has the number of family offices — and with that, a troubling new trend: imposters pretending to run them. Industry experts say the family office space, once a niche structure for ultra-wealthy families to manage their own assets, has become fertile ground for both opportunists and fraudsters. According to Ronald Diamond of Diamond Wealth, “fake family offices have been growing exponentially,” as more people seek to capitalise on the influx of wealth and attention in the sector.
The lure is simple. With family offices now managing over $3.1 trillion globally — a figure projected to reach $5.4 trillion by 2030, according to Deloitte — simply claiming to represent one can open doors. Banks, fund managers, and advisors often court these entities, creating opportunities for deception. In one example, a Singaporean man was convicted for posing as a representative of Man Capital, using fake email domains to solicit more than $10 million from investors in pre-IPO tech companies like Airbnb.
Not every case is financially motivated. Some individuals claim to run family offices merely to gain prestige. As Tobias Prestel of Prestel and Partner notes, “They say, ‘I’m the founder of a family office,’ just to be seen as important. Banks invite them to lunch, and asset managers take them to dinner.”
Regulatory blind spots make verification difficult. Genuine single family offices (SFOs) — which manage only one family’s wealth — are often exempt from registration or licensing requirements. This privacy, designed to protect ultra-high-net-worth families, also creates a loophole that bad actors can exploit. In Dubai and the U.S., for example, family offices managing only internal wealth need no public registration. Authorities from Singapore’s MAS and Hong Kong’s Financial Services Bureau have urged investors to verify whether a supposed family office is licensed or authorised to solicit external capital. “Single family offices are not meant to raise third-party funds,” a spokesperson for MAS reiterated.
The most effective defence, experts say, is community verification. Family office networks increasingly share intelligence informally to confirm legitimacy. As Diamond explains, “If a supposed family office is unknown to established families in that region, that’s a red flag.” Mu Chen, CEO of Canopy, cautions against those who overshare credentials or aggressively push deals: “Genuine family offices are private and don’t lead with a product pitch. If someone’s trying too hard to prove their wealth or connections, that’s when alarm bells should ring.”
In short, the very discretion that defines the family office world has become its vulnerability — and as the sector grows, so too does the need for greater scrutiny and trust within its ranks.
