External resources
Before you deal with any firm, a few checks on the FCA's own site tell you what you need to know. We link to them rather than copy them: the FCA's lists change constantly, and a stale copy here would be worse than a link straight to the live one. Everything below opens the FCA's own pages.
The FCA Warning List
The FCA publishes a list of firms and individuals it knows are operating without authorisation, or that may be running a scam. If a firm you are considering appears on it, do not deal with them - search the name before you send any money.
One caution: the list records what the FCA has been told about. A name that is absent has not been cleared - it may simply not have been reported yet. Absence is not a green light; authorisation is the next thing to check.
ScamSmart
ScamSmart is the FCA's campaign against investment and pension fraud. It sets out the tactics scammers use - unexpected contact, time-limited offers, promises of high returns with low risk - and gives you tools to check a firm and report one. If an offer pressures you to act quickly, that pressure is itself the warning.
Check a firm's authorisation yourself
The Financial Services Register is the definitive record of who the FCA authorises. Checking a firm takes a minute:
- Search the firm's name, or its Firm Reference Number (FRN), on the register.
- Read the status. "Authorised" is what you want; "no longer authorised", or no entry at all, is a stop.
- Check the permissions. A firm can be authorised for one activity and not another - make sure what they offer you is what they are permitted to do.
- Note the Firm Reference Number, and use it to find the entry rather than a name a firm gives you.
- Watch for clone firms. Fraudsters copy a real authorised firm's name and number, then give you their own phone number or email. Contact the firm using only the details on the register, never the ones in the approach.
If anything does not line up, report it to the FCA.