The FCA Warning List is a public record of firms and individuals the regulator believes may be operating without authorisation, or impersonating a firm that is. It is a useful, fast check. It is also widely misread, in both directions.
What a listing does mean
- The regulator has seen enough to publish a warning, usually including the website, phone numbers and email addresses in use.
- Anyone dealing with that firm is very unlikely to have access to the ombudsman or to the compensation scheme.
- The contact details published alongside the entry are themselves evidence: they are frequently reused across other operations.
What a listing does not mean
- It is not a criminal finding, and it is not a court judgment.
- It is not exhaustive. New operations appear faster than any list can absorb them, so absence proves nothing.
- It is not a snapshot that stays accurate: names change weekly, and one operation can appear under several names.
How to use it properly
Search the name, then search the website, then search the phone number and email address separately. Fraudsters change company names much more often than they change infrastructure, so a number or a domain is frequently the stronger search term. Then check the register for the firm being impersonated and call the number published there.
How we handle listings
We publish the firm name, a short factual summary, the details listed and a link to the regulator's own page. We do not copy the regulator's text wholesale, and we do not describe anyone as a criminal on the basis of a listing. Where we can show the same contact details across several entries, we say so and show the working.
If you have paid a listed firm, contact your bank, report it to Action Fraud, and use the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the bank's answer. The FCA consumer helpline is 0800 111 6768. All 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
- 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 11/08/2026
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 11 August 2026 at 08:00 · last updated 14 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.
Share a quote card
Generate a branded image of the key line from this report, with the link on it, to post or send on.
- Firms and warnings
Related reporting
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
Where the money actually goes in the first ninety minutes
Follow a single stolen payment through the accounts it passes on the way out. The reason speed matters so much to your bank is that, after roughly ninety minutes, there is usually nothing left to recover.
Sun 23 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
Reporting fraud: who to tell, in what order, and why the order matters
Your bank comes first because only it can attempt to freeze the receiving account. Action Fraud records the crime for policing purposes.
Fri 14 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
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
0 published comments · moderated by the newsroom
House rules: comments are for readers' own experience and questions about the reporting. We remove spam, abuse and anything that names a private individual without cause. Comments containing links are held for an editor before they appear. We cannot tell you whether you have a claim, and we do not pass details to any solicitor, claims firm or representative.