Fake FCA Register & Clone Firm Lookups UK 2026

What the fake-FCA-register scam looks like

Criminals running a clone-firm or unauthorised-investment scam often back up their pitch with a fake FCA register lookup page:

The criminal sends you investment materials with a real-looking firm name + FRN.
You ask "how do I verify this is regulated?".
The criminal helpfully provides a URL: "Here's the FCA register, search our FRN" — but the URL is fake.
You visit the URL, search, and see the real firm's details — feel reassured.
The URL is controlled by the criminal. The page shows whatever they want you to see.

The defence is in step 3: never use a register URL provided by the firm under investigation. Type register.fca.org.uk yourself, into your browser address bar.

How to verify you're on the real register

URL exactly equals register.fca.org.uk — no typos, no extra characters, no extra TLD components, no sub-domain prefixes you don't recognise. Check the address bar carefully.
HTTPS with valid certificate (padlock icon). Most browsers show a green or grey padlock; click it to confirm the certificate is issued to the right entity.
Hosted on Salesforce infrastructure — the FCA outsources its public register to Salesforce. You'll see Salesforce-related URLs in the page resources (e.g., my.fca.org.uk subdomains, force.com references in network traffic). Most users won't need to verify this layer; URL + HTTPS is sufficient.
If in any doubt: navigate to fca.org.uk (the FCA homepage) directly, and follow the link from there to the register. The FCA homepage is the secondary anchor of authenticity.

Other FCA impersonation scams

Fake "FCA-affiliated" verification services

Criminals invent fictitious organisations like "FCA Compliance Bureau" or "UK Financial Verification Service" that claim to be FCA-affiliated. The real FCA doesn't operate sub-services for firm verification — only the register. Anyone claiming to be from an FCA-related verification body is impersonating.

Fake "FCA approval" emails

Emails from domains like fca-approval.org, compliance-fca.com, ukfca-verify.com. Real FCA email addresses end @fca.org.uk only. If the sender domain is anything else, it's fake regardless of how official the email looks.

Fake "FCA Recovery Room" services

Criminals offer "FCA-approved" recovery services for upfront fees, claiming to recover money lost to scams. The FCA does NOT operate recovery services. The FCA's "Recovery Room Scams" page warns of exactly this pattern. Any "FCA recovery" offer asking for an upfront fee is a recovery scam. See recovery scam warning.

Fake "FCA compliance certificate" PDFs

Some scams send PDFs that look like FCA-issued compliance certificates. The FCA doesn't issue compliance certificates to firms; firms appear on the register or not. Any "FCA certificate of approval" PDF is fake regardless of how official it looks.

5-step verification, applied properly

Combining clone-firm verification + fake-register verification:

Type register.fca.org.uk directly. Don't use links from the pitching firm.
Search the firm name AND FRN both — should produce the same record.
Read the register entry: name, address, FRN, permissions, status.
Cross-check EVERY contact detail (phone, email, website, address) against what the pitching firm has given you. ANY mismatch = clone firm.
Call the FCA-register-published phone number — NOT the number in the pitching materials. Ask the firm whether they have a record of contact with you.

Also check the FCA Warning List at fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms — clone firms get added once a victim reports the impersonation; checking the Warning List catches recent additions.

If you've been scammed via a fake register

Call your bank fraud line immediately if money has been sent.
Save evidence — screenshots of the fake register, URLs, every communication from the pitching firm.
Report to the real FCA at fca.org.uk/contact or 0800 111 6768. They investigate impersonator sites and add them to the Warning List.
Contact the real impersonated firm using their FCA-register-published phone number. They'll typically log it for compliance.
File Report Fraud report at reportfraud.police.uk.
Start a PSR claim with our PSR claim wizard if a UK bank transfer funded the loss.
Watch for recovery scams — fake-register victims are heavily targeted by follow-up recovery operations. Recovery scam warning.
Add CIFAS Protective Registration. £25 / 2 years. Walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions

What's the real FCA register URL?

register.fca.org.uk — that exact URL, nothing else. The Financial Conduct Authority is the UK regulator for financial services; its public register lists every authorised firm with FRN, registered details, and permissions. Type the URL directly into your browser; don't click any link sent by a third party; don't use a Google search result. Fake versions of the register exist using URLs like fca-register.com, ukfcacheck.org, fcaregisteruk.com — none are real. The real register is operated by the FCA and is the only authoritative source for UK financial firm authorisation.

What's a fake FCA register lookup scam?

Criminals running clone-firm scams sometimes back up their pitch with a fake 'FCA register' page that shows the real firm's details when you search — but the page is fake. The criminal sends you the URL and tells you to 'check us against the FCA register'. You search, see the real firm's details, and feel reassured. The page is on a fake domain controlled by the criminal. The defence: never use a register URL provided by the firm under investigation. Type register.fca.org.uk yourself.

What other fake regulator sites exist?

Several patterns. (1) Fake FCA register sites (above). (2) Fake 'FCA-affiliated' verification services — these don't exist; the FCA doesn't operate sub-services for firm verification. (3) Fake 'compliance certificate' websites generating PDFs that look like FCA documents. (4) Fake 'FCA approval' email senders using domains like fca-approval.org or compliance-fca.com. The real FCA email addresses end @fca.org.uk only. (5) Fake 'FCA Recovery Room' websites offering to recover scam losses for upfront fees — the FCA does not operate recovery services; these are recovery scams. The FCA Warning List (fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms) has live alerts on impersonator websites.

How do I know I'm on the real register?

Three checks. (1) The URL is exactly register.fca.org.uk — check the address bar carefully, no typos, no extra characters, no extra TLD components. (2) The page is served over HTTPS with a valid certificate (padlock icon). (3) The page is hosted by Salesforce (the FCA outsources its public register to Salesforce infrastructure; you'll see Salesforce branding in the URL paths). If any of these don't match, you're on an impersonator. When in doubt, navigate to fca.org.uk (the FCA homepage) and follow the link to the register from there.

If a firm shows on the FCA register, is it definitely safe?

It's authorised — but authorised doesn't equal scam-proof. Three caveats. (1) Clone firm scams use the real firm's register entry; verify contact details, not just the name. (2) Authorised firms can still mis-sell, fail, or operate negligently — FCA enforcement and FSCS exist for these cases. (3) Some firms are authorised for specific permissions only — e.g., insurance distribution, not investment advice; check the permissions list. The register confirms the firm exists and is regulated for its stated permissions, not that any specific deal offered is sound. Combine register check with: FCA Warning List lookup, FCA Firm Checker contact-detail cross-check, and independent due diligence.

What if I've been scammed via a fake FCA register?

Same response as clone-firm scam. (1) Call your bank fraud line immediately if money was sent. (2) Save the fake register URL and screenshots — useful evidence. (3) Report to the real FCA at fca.org.uk/contact; they investigate impersonator sites and add them to the Warning List. (4) File Report Fraud report at reportfraud.police.uk. (5) Start a PSR claim with our wizard if a UK bank transfer funded the loss. (6) Watch for recovery scams — fake-register victims are heavily targeted by follow-up recovery operations. See our recovery scam warning.

Fake FCA register & clone-firm lookups