Investment fraud is a sales operation before it is a theft. The people running it spend money on advertising, build sites that look like comparison tables, and rehearse the objections a cautious saver will raise. Understanding the sequence is more useful than memorising a list of red flags.
The funnel
It usually starts with paid distribution: search adverts, social feeds, a cloned news article, sometimes a spoofed endorsement. The landing page offers a rate — often a fixed return between six and ten per cent — and asks only for a phone number. That number is the product. Within hours a "portfolio manager" calls, well-spoken, patient, and happy for you to start small.
- The first payment is deliberately modest, and it is often to a real-looking platform with a live dashboard.
- Gains appear on screen. Some victims are even allowed a small withdrawal, which is what turns caution into confidence.
- The larger transfer is then framed as a closing window: a bond tranche, an allocation, a tax year end.
- At withdrawal, a fee appears — tax, compliance, insurance, a currency spread — and it is always payable before the money can be released.
The paperwork looks right
Prospectuses, ISIN codes, glossy PDFs, a Companies House number and an address in the City are all cheap to produce. Incorporation is not authorisation. A firm reference number can be copied from a real firm's entry, which is what makes a clone hard to spot: the number is real, the phone number and bank details are not.
Where the money goes
Transfers usually go to a UK account in a plausible corporate name, then straight out through a chain of accounts and into crypto exchanges. Because you authorised it, the payment is treated as an APP fraud claim against your bank rather than a card dispute.
Checks that cost nothing
- Search the firm on the FCA register and check the contact details on the register, not the ones you were given.
- Search the FCA Warning List for the name, the website and the phone number.
- Look up the company at Companies House: incorporation date, filing history, officers.
- Refuse to be hurried. Every real deadline survives a night's sleep.
If you have already paid
Call your bank now, report to Action Fraud, and keep every document. If the bank turns you down, the Financial Ombudsman Service will look at the complaint for free, and the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768 can confirm a firm's status. We do not assess claims or refer anyone to advisers.
Firm warnings published each month
98 in this window · down 17 on the month before
- 2Apr
- 1May
- 2Jun
- 4Jul
- 53Aug
- 36Sept
Counted from the warning notices in our own archive. One notice can name several trading styles.
The wider record
Counts from our own archive, for context around this report. Not an estimate of fraud across the UK.
Clone firms as a share of our Warning List archive
Clone firms copy the name or details of a genuine authorised business.
- Clone of an authorised firm17(16%)
- Not recorded as a clone89(84%)
Contact details recorded against warned firms
One firm can appear in more than one row.
Website recorded76(35%)
Website recorded: 76 entriesPhone recorded39(18%)
Phone recorded: 39 entriesEmail recorded85(39%)
Email recorded: 85 entriesNo contact details held16(7%)
No contact details held: 16 entries
Open the data page to see how each figure is counted.
How this report was made
- Updated
- 3 times
- Primary sources
- 5 sources
- Following this subject
- 0 readers
- Reader comments
- 0 comments
Checked against the published record
FCA
Financial Conduct Authority Warning ListPrimary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
FCA
FCA Financial Services RegisterAuthoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
PSR
Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursementThe reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
FOS
Financial Ombudsman ServiceFree, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Action Fraud
Action Fraud reporting serviceThe UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sourcing. Every claim is tied to a published record — a regulator's notice, a court or ombudsman decision, or a document we hold. We quote a headline and a short summary and link the original.
Right of reply. Firms and people we criticise are put on notice before publication and their response is carried in the piece.
Independence. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no referrals to solicitors or claims firms. The only routes we point to are free. Read the full method · first published 07/08/2026
Trust and sourcing
- Bylined
- Editor approved
- Not flagged for review
Legal review
Not required
No individual or firm is criticised, so no right of reply was required.
Source URLs behind this report
- FCA
https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA
https://register.fca.org.uk/
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR
https://www.psr.org.uk/
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
What changed in each update
First published 7 August 2026 at 08:00 · last updated 10 August 2026 at 10:00
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Updates and change log
- First published
- Last updated
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Sources for this report
- FCA Financial Conduct Authority Warning List — Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA FCA Financial Services Register — Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement — The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS Financial Ombudsman Service — Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud Action Fraud reporting service — The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sources for this report
Financial Conduct Authority Warning List
FCA
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
Read the original sourceFCA Financial Services Register
FCA
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
Read the original sourcePayment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement
PSR
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
Read the original sourceFinancial Ombudsman Service
FOS
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Read the original sourceAction Fraud reporting service
Action Fraud
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Read the original source
We link directly to the original source wherever possible. A source may update its own page after we publish; we show the date we last recorded or updated the citation.
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- Scam types
- Investment scams
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About the author
Priya Raghavan — Priya tracks the FCA Warning List, clone firms and unauthorised investment promotions, and writes the reference explainers.
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