The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asks consumers to be extra vigilant for fraudsters who occur as the regulator, after it has shown that it had received nearly 5,000 fake FCA scam reports in the first half of 2025.
Scammers steal money by persuading people to transfer funds or personal information, such as bank account pins and passwords.
There have been 4,465 reports from fake FCA scamming to the consumer helpline of the regulator so far this year, with 480 victims to send money to the fraudster.
Almost two -thirds of the reports came from people aged 56 or older.
A common scam method is fraudsters who claim that the FCA found funds from a crypto wallet who was openly opened in the name of the individual.
Another is to focus victims of loans and to claim that the FCA can help them reclaim the money they have lost. The individual is then convinced to transfer further funds.
In other cases, and e -mail consumers and e -mail them that their creditors have taken away a judgment of the provincial court against them and they must pay the FCA the amount owed.
Comment on the increasing prevalence of Financial scams AJ Bell Senior Pensions and Savings Expert Charlene Young said: “This new warning from the FCA causes grim reading, because financial scammers are now imitating as the regulator itself. The figures represent the total number of reports to the FCA where people realize that they are the target and will be prepared to make a report higher.
She pointed out that the most vulnerable people remain those who are most active the target. “We saw financial vulnerability in particular exposed by fraudsters during the worst of the Covid Pandemie, and the costs of living crisis that followed.
“Although people of all ages can fall victim to scammers, those who have access to their pension pot – possibly the biggest assets they possess – will inevitably be an excellent target,” said Young.