UK investment fraud: FCA reports, police reports and FOS complaints
Choose the right UK route for an investment scam, cloned firm or bank complaint, and understand why FCA and FOS have different roles.
Contact the sending provider, report suspicious investment firms to the FCA and use the appropriate police reporting route. For an unresolved complaint about an eligible financial business, consider FOS after the provider process. An FCA report does not itself decide an individual refund.
A fake investment platform, a copied authorised firm and a complaint about your bank are not the same issue. You may need more than one report, with the requested action tailored to each organisation.
This guide concerns UK routes. Report Fraud’s police-report service covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland; if you are in Scotland, use the Police Scotland reporting route. Always begin at an official website rather than a contact link supplied by the suspected scammer.
Check the firm and contact the sending provider
Use the FCA’s official register route to check the actual legal entity and contact details. A copied reference number does not authenticate a salesperson or website. The FCA describes clone firms that pretend to be authorised businesses.
If you have paid, contact your bank, issuer or exchange promptly and provide the payment trail. Ask about stopping or recalling the payment and securing account access. Do not wait for a regulator warning before notifying your provider.
Report the suspicious offer to FCA
The FCA’s clone-firm guidance asks consumers to report possible fraud and provides its official contact route. Save the offer, domain, registration claim, correspondence and recipient details. Distinguish the real regulated firm from the impersonator.
The purpose of the report is not to establish that the genuine firm received your money. Nor is reporting an unauthorised offer the same as filing an individual reimbursement complaint. Use accurate labels so the regulator can understand the suspected impersonation.
Use the current police reporting route
Report Fraud provides an official route for reporting cyber crime and fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its page separates suspicious contact where you have not responded or lost money from a report about actual cyber crime or fraud.
Keep the crime reference and submission copy. For Scotland, contact Police Scotland through its official channels. In an immediate emergency, use the appropriate emergency service. A police report can support a provider’s assessment, but it does not automatically determine reimbursement.
Complain to the financial business before FOS
If the concern is how an eligible financial business handled your payments or account, use its complaint process first. FOS says a business should have the opportunity to resolve the issue. Save the final response and any notice of external rights.
Different complaint types have different response timeframes; do not assume the general eight-week period always applies to payment or fraud matters. Check FOS’s current guidance. It says you generally need to refer within six months of the final response, with other time-limit rules also relevant.
Keep recovery expectations realistic
FOS offers a free service and you do not need paid representation simply to bring an eligible complaint. It assesses the business and issue within its scope; it is not a general mechanism to recover money from any anonymous overseas platform.
If the payment may fit the UK APP framework, use the separate eligibility guide and ask the bank to assess it. Beware of commercial callers claiming FCA or FOS affiliation or guaranteed recovery. Verify identities independently before sharing documents or paying fees.
A short checklist
- Verify the actual firm and contact details.
- Notify the sending provider.
- Report suspicious investment activity to FCA.
- Use the police route for your UK nation.
- Track the provider complaint and FOS referral information.
Common questions
Does an FCA licence guarantee compensation for a cloned offer?
No. A clone uses someone else’s identity. Establish who actually contacted you and received funds, and seek an assessment of any relevant provider complaint.
Do I need a claims company to use FOS?
No. FOS says its service is free and paid representation is not required. You can ask a trusted person to help, using the appropriate process.
References
- Clone firms and individualsFinancial Conduct Authority · United Kingdom
- Report cyber crime and fraudReport Fraud / City of London Police · England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- How to complainFinancial Ombudsman Service · United Kingdom
- APP fraud reimbursement protectionsPayment Systems Regulator · United Kingdom
- Refund and recovery scamsFederal Trade Commission · United States; scam-pattern guidance
