A clone firm is fraud built on somebody else's good name. The fraudster copies an authorised firm's identity — name, reference number, address, sometimes whole pages of its website — and swaps in their own phone number, email address and bank details. The firm being cloned is usually a legitimate business and often has no idea until customers start calling.
Why clones work
Consumers are told to check the register, and clones are designed to survive that check. The reference number quoted in the letter is real. The address is real. The only false elements are the ones that matter: the contact route and the account you are asked to pay.
- Domains that differ by one character, a hyphen or a different ending.
- Mobile numbers or VoIP landlines instead of the firm's switchboard.
- Email addresses on a lookalike domain, sometimes with a display name that hides it.
- Payment details in a name that does not match the firm at all.
How to break the illusion in two minutes
- Find the firm on the FCA register yourself, by name, without using any link you were sent.
- Compare the website domain character by character.
- Call the register's number and ask whether the person contacting you works there.
- Check that the account name on the payment details matches the firm exactly.
What we do with clone reports
Every clone entry we log is matched to the regulator's own page and checked for recycled contact details — the same landline or email reappearing under a new company name is one of the clearest signals that one operation is behind several listings. Our archive lets you search a phone number in any format against those details.
If money has already gone, tell your bank, report to Action Fraud, and if you are unhappy with the outcome use the Financial Ombudsman Service. All three are free, as is the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768.
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 10/08/2026
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 10 August 2026 at 08:00 · last updated 13 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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- Firms and warnings
- Clone firms
Related reporting
The same phone numbers keep coming back: how clone operations recycle contact details
We matched contact details across every clone entry in our Warning List archive. Numbers and email domains reappear under new firm names, which suggests a small number of operations behind many warnings.
Tue 25 Aug
Inside a clone firm: three weeks on the receiving end of a boiler room
A reporter answered one cold call and kept answering. What followed was a scripted, twenty-day operation using the reference number of a genuinely authorised London firm — and a bank transfer request that arrived, politely, on day nine.
Tue 25 Aug
Twenty firms added to the FCA Warning List in the week to 24 August, six of them clones
Our archive recorded twenty new or updated entries on the Financial Conduct Authority's Warning List over the past week. Six copied the identity of an authorised firm.
Mon 24 Aug
Thirty days of Warning List entries: what 214 records show about how fraud is sold in Britain now
We read every entry added to the FCA Warning List over the past month and coded each one. Fixed-return language dominates, domains are younger than ever, and one contact pattern appears in nearly a fifth of records.
Sat 22 Aug
What an FCA Warning List entry does, and does not, mean
The Warning List records firms the FCA believes are operating without authorisation, or copying an authorised firm. Absence from it proves nothing.
Tue 11 Aug
What FCA authorisation actually means, and what it does not
Authorisation means a firm is permitted to carry out specified regulated activities. It is not a quality rating and it does not guarantee your money back.
Sun 9 Aug
About the author
Priya Raghavan — Priya tracks the FCA Warning List, clone firms and unauthorised investment promotions, and writes the reference explainers.
Reader comments
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