FCA launches Firm Checker to combat rising investment scam losses

The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a new consumer-facing tool, Firm Checker, intended to help people verify whether a financial firm that has approached them is authorised and permitted to provide the services it claims to offer.

According to the FCA, Firm Checker allows users to confirm a firm’s authorisation status and to check that the contact details offered by a firm match those held by the regulator. The FCA said in a press release that the service is designed to help people “confirm the firm is authorized and help fight financial crime,” quoting Sheree Howard, the regulator’s executive director of authorisations: “Ruthless fraudsters are constantly evolving their tactics so they can steal money from innocent victims. Whether you’re considering an investment, pension opportunity, loan or other financial service, use Firm Checker to confirm the firm is authorized and help fight financial crime.”

The FCA stressed that Firm Checker complements, rather than replaces, existing public resources. Its wider Financial Services Register continues to carry additional details , including published restrictions related to crypto activities, historic fines, firms’ rights to approve financial promotions and their ability to handle client money , and the regulator’s Warning List highlights unauthorised firms and individuals operating without permission. The FCA’s consumer guidance also reiterates familiar protections: be wary of unsolicited approaches, verify firms’ credentials and report suspicious activity.

The launch comes against a backdrop of sharply rising losses from investment-related scams. The FCA’s own figures show around 800,000 people reported losing money to investment or pension-related scams in the 12 months to May 2024. Industry data cited by the regulator and by trade bodies point to continuing pressures: UK Finance recorded a 12% year-on-year rise in authorized push payment (APP) fraud losses in the first half of 2025, driven largely by investment scams, which were up 55% and now account for 38% of APP losses. The average loss in an investment scam remains many times larger than in other APP cases.

Industry commentators welcomed Firm Checker as a useful addition to the consumer toolkit but warned it was no panacea. “Fraud isn’t happening because consumers are choosing unregistered firms. It’s the registered firms themselves being weaponized as part of the social engineering journey. Victims are directed to them as a proof point, before being diverted to an entirely different entity to make an investment,” said Jonathan Frost, director of global advisory EMEA at BioCatch. He added: “Given that social engineering is predicated on circumventing controls, no search tool will meaningfully reduce fraud. The real answer lies in tackling the manipulation at its source, mainly on social media platforms and disrupting the money mule networks that move the profits.”

Michael Shand, managing principal at consultancy Capco, urged firms and consumers to treat Firm Checker as one element in a broader response. “With clear, effective communications, it can be positioned as one tool within a broader fraud-prevention toolkit. However, tackling fraud inevitably requires a collective effort across government, law enforcement, technology companies, financial services firms and consumers themselves,” he said. He encouraged firms to prioritise customer support and education, and to signpost customers to Firm Checker where appropriate.

The FCA’s initiative therefore seeks to address a specific vulnerability , mistaken trust in a firm’s apparent credentials , while recognising the wider, harder-to-solve problem of social engineering and illicit payments infrastructure. Government, regulators, social media platforms, law enforcement and financial institutions will need to co‑ordinate to disrupt the actors and channels that underpin large-value investment scams if the tide of losses is to be reduced materially.