The Financial Conduct Authority posted that it had issued 19 warnings about unauthorised or clone firms in a single week, urging consumers to verify any financial business before handing over money.
Nineteen warnings in seven days — that’s the figure the FCA posted on social media, flagging firms that were either operating without its permission or impersonating legitimate, authorised businesses. The regulator says anyone approached by such a firm risks losing access to both the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, leaving them with little recourse if something goes wrong.
Clone firms are chiefly difficult to spot. Fraudsters copy the name, address or Firm Reference Number of a real, authorised business to appear credible — then supply their own contact details to intercept any communication. The FCA’s advice is straightforward: always use the phone number or email address listed on the FCA Register itself, not whatever the firm sends you.
One firm named in the FCA’s warnings feed is GoTempCover Limited, flagged as a clone of an FCA-authorised business, with the warning first published on 21 October 2026.
The quarterly data tells a longer story. The FCA recorded 6,387 reports about potential unauthorised business in 2023 Q2, falling to 5,346 in 2023 Q3 and dropping further to 4,302 by 2024 Q4. But alerts issued to the public moved in the opposite direction — rising from 400 in 2023 Q2 to 488 in Q3, and reaching 584 by 2024 Q4. So while reports from the public have fallen, the FCA has been publishing more warnings, not fewer. Across all three quarterly datasets, 11 per cent of those alerts related to clone scams specifically.
The FCA asks anyone approached by a suspected unauthorised or clone firm to report it directly to the regulator.
Key information
- Check the FCA Firm Checker before dealing with any financial firm
- Consult the FCA Warning List to see firms the regulator believes are operating without permission or involved in scams
- Use contact details from the FCA Register only — not those supplied by the firm approaching you
- Report suspected unauthorised or clone firms to the FCA directly via its website
Source: @TheFCA
FCA issues 19 warnings about unauthorised and clone financial firms in seven days Quiz
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