London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 14, 2025

Victims lose average of £45,000 in investment scams

Victims lose average of £45,000 in investment scams

Victims lost an average of £45,242 last year after investing with fraudsters imitating genuine investment firms.

More than £78m was lost in total, according to fraud reporting centre Action Fraud.

Reports of clone firm investment scams rose by 29% in April - at the time of the first national lockdown - compared with the previous month.

A UK financial watchdog warned people to be alert, particularly when their finances were stretched.

How the clone scams work


Scammers set up clone firms using the name, address and firm reference number (FRN) of real companies authorised by the regulator - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

They then send out sales materials linking to the websites of legitimate firms, to trick potential investors into thinking they are dealing with the real firm.

They use their own, similar contact details, so victims still think they are dealing with the genuine firm as they invest money.

Losses can be high as fraudsters tend to encourage large or regular investments before disappearing with the money.

'Convincing'


The ongoing financial impact of Covid-19 may make people more susceptible to clone scams, the FCA said.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Fraudsters use literature and websites that mirror those of legitimate firms, as well as encouraging investors to check the firm reference number (FRN) on the FCA Register to sound as convincing as possible."

He said alerts were raised about 1,100 firms, including clones, last year - twice as many as the previous year.

He said the authorities were taking down clone sites when discovered.

"When it comes to clones, I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to double check every detail," Mr Steward said.

One victim, called Janet, said: "After searching the internet for high-return bonds, I received a call the next day about investing in student accommodation.

"I found legitimate details of the company online - everything seemed genuine, so I invested.

"A few months later, after a couple more investments, I started to get a bit worried - I still hadn't received confirmation of the latest investment.

"I tried to call the contacts I had been speaking to, but the numbers were invalid. It was clear I had been scammed.

"I had lost £40,000."

How to avoid scams


The ScamSmart campaign, run by the FCA, has tips to protect yourself from clone investment firms:

*  Reject unsolicited investment offers whether made online, on social media or over the phone. Be wary even if you initiated contact

*  Always check the FCA register to make sure the firm is authorised and check the FCA warning list of firms to avoid

*  Only use the telephone number and email address on the FCA register, not the contact details the firm gives you, and look out for subtle differences

*  Consider seeking impartial advice before investing

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
×