In a new development, scammers are using fake letters and phone calls to pose as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to target authorised firms and consumers.
The FCA said firms have been receiving a fake letter from an FCA director this month.
The letter claims to relate to a review by the FCA of the ‘Star Like project’.
The regulator said signs that a letter may be a fake include spelling mistakes and poor grammar.
The regulator said scammers are also sending fake emails.
The FCA says its genuine FCA emails are sent from these addresses:
- @fca.org.uk
- @fcanewsletters.org.uk
- @fcamail.org.uk
However, some scammers are ‘spoofing’ or copying these address and using other techniques to cheat people. The FCA says it has put in place measures in place to prevent fraudsters ‘spoofing’ its email addresses but says some fraudsters are using similar email addresses to make their emails appear genuine.
The fake emails are coming from several domains including This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. It said these email addresses do not match and FCA employees, but are actually being sent by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The top 3 subject lines in these fake emails are, “Project Loan”, “Project Seking”, and “Project Seking Loan”.
The FCA said authorised firms and consumers should always delete suspicious emails without opening them.
The watchdog has also urged people to beware of fake versions of its websites which can include copies altered information, including changed warnings pages so it looks like scam firms are authorised by the FCA.
Some fraudsters are also running fake websites or domains with names near to FCA official names to make them look similar, (eg ‘register-fca.org.uk’ instead of the real website ‘register.fca.org.uk’).
The FCA said its online systems for firms have web addresses that start with:
- fca.org.uk
- register.fca.org.uk/s/
The FCA has also warned about fake phone calls.
Scammers can make the FCA’s correct switchboard numbers – 020 7066 1000, 0300 500 8082 and 0800 111 6768 – appear in the caller ID.
Anyone with suspicions is advised to not give out any personal information following an incoming call and do not call people back using the contact details they have received.
Consumers are sometimes called in connection with FCA investigations and can check they are speaking to a genuine FCA employee via its consumer helplines. Helpline numbers are available here.
