A warning notice is a small document: a name, some websites, a phone number, a date. Read one and you learn about one operation. Read a month of them together and you get something closer to a market report on how fraud is currently being sold in Britain.
We coded every entry added over the last thirty days by the language it used, the age of its domains and the contact details it published.
What the language does
- Fixed or guaranteed returns appear in the majority of investment-styled entries, most commonly quoted between 6 and 9 per cent.
- "Capital protected" and "government backed" recur, in phrasings close enough to suggest shared templates rather than shared imagination.
- Entries aimed at savers lean on the vocabulary of dull safety. Entries aimed at traders lean on access and exclusivity.
What the infrastructure shows
- A large share of listed domains were registered within three months of the warning.
- Mobile numbers appear far more often than switchboards — a straightforward mismatch against any authorised firm's Register entry.
- Repeated contact details across differently-named entries are the clearest sign of one operation running several brands, and the easiest thing for a reader to check.
What it does not show
A Warning List entry is not a criminal finding, and absence from the list is not a clean bill of health. The list records firms the regulator believes may be operating without authorisation; new operations appear on it after they have already been selling.
The two-minute check
Search the name, then the website, then the phone number, each on its own. Look the reference number up on the Register and ring the switchboard printed there. Check the receiving company at Companies House.
If money has gone: your bank, then the Financial Ombudsman Service, then Action Fraud, then the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768. All four are free.
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
- Not revised since publication
- Primary sources
- 2 sources
- Following this subject
- 0 readers
- Reader comments
- 0 comments
Checked against the published record
Financial Conduct Authority
FCA Warning List additions, rolling thirty daysEvery entry in the period was read and coded by hand.
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 22/08/2026
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
- Financial Conduct Authority
https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms
Every entry in the period was read and coded by hand.
- The Fraud CenterOur own Warning List archive
Used to match repeated contact details across differently-named entries.
What changed in each update
First published 22 August 2026 at 07:00 · last updated 25 August 2026 at 17:43
Nothing has changed since first publication.
How we source and correct our reportingUpdates and change log
- First published
- Last updated
No changes have been made since first publication.
Sources for this report
- Financial Conduct Authority FCA Warning List additions, rolling thirty days — Every entry in the period was read and coded by hand.
- The Fraud Center Our own Warning List archive — Used to match repeated contact details across differently-named entries.
Sources for this report
FCA Warning List additions, rolling thirty days
Financial Conduct Authority
Every entry in the period was read and coded by hand.
Read the original sourceOur own Warning List archive
The Fraud Center
Used to match repeated contact details across differently-named entries.
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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- Warning list additions
- Firms and warnings
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What an FCA Warning List entry does, and does not, mean
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Tue 11 Aug
Clone firms: when the details are real but the firm contacting you is not
A clone uses an authorised firm's name and reference number with its own phone number, email address or website. The authorised firm is a victim too.
Mon 10 Aug
What FCA authorisation actually means, and what it does not
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Sun 9 Aug
About the author
Helen Marsden — Helen has reported on retail financial services and consumer credit in the UK for fifteen years. She signs off every story on this site and is responsible for corrections.
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