Consumers are warned about the fraudsters who endure the UK financial behavior Authority (FCA), as the regulatory authority revealed that it had received about 5,000 false FCA fraud reports in the first half of 2025.
Scammers aim to steal money by producing people or sensitive information, such as bank account pins and passwords.
There have been 4,465 reports of false FCA fraud on the assistance line of the regulatory body already this year. A total of 480 victims were deceived to send money to the cheat.
The majority, almost two -thirds, of reports come from people aged 56 or above.
One of the most common methods of fraud mentioned is the scammers who claim that FCA has recovered funds from a encryption wallet that opened illegally in the person’s name.
Another common method is to target victims of loan fraud, which are often very vulnerable, and claim that FCA can help them recover the money they have lost. They are then convinced to deliver further funds.
A separate trend involves e -mail to consumers who tell them that their creditors have made a court ruling against them and must pay the FCA the money owed.
The “pig” is an unpleasant trend where the victims of scammers “fat” by creating a connection, often romantic, and then carrying out a long -term investment fraud. After the victim has lost the money, the scammers are trying to deceive the victims for the second time, pretending to be the FCA on the pretext of helping to “recover” the money.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of the market for the FCA, said:
“The scammers are ruthless. They are trying to steal money from innocent victims by laminating the FCA. We will never ask you to transfer money to us or for sensitive bank information, such as account pins and passwords. In case of doubt, always check. ”