FCA Cautions Against Rise of Impersonation Scams

England’s financial watchdog wants residents to be wary of fraudsters impersonating the agency.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Wednesday (Aug. 27) that it had received nearly 4,500 reports of “fake FCA scams” during the first half of 2025.

While the number of reports of these scams has declined over the last two years, data from the regulator provided to PYMNTS shows that the number of people tricked into turning over money has jumped during the same time frame.

Between January and the end of June of 2023, the FCA received 6,274 reports, with 275 people handing over money. During the first six months of the following year, the authority got 5,505 reports, with 460 victims. And this year, the FCA logged 4,465 reports and 480 victims. Two-thirds of the reports came from people aged 56 years or older.

‘Fraudsters are ruthless. They attempt to steal money from innocent victims by impersonating the FCA,” said Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA. “We will never ask you to transfer money to us or for sensitive banking information such as account PINs and passwords. If in doubt, always check.”

According to the FCA, one of the most common scams involve fraudsters claiming that the regulator has recovered money from a crypto wallet opened illegally in the victim’s name.

There are also “pig butchering” scams, in which fraudsters “fatten up” a victim by establishing a connection, often a romantic one, and then conducting a long-term investment scam. Once the victim has lost money, scammers attempt to defraud victims a second time by pretending to be the FCA aiming to help them to “recover” the money.

The FCA advises people to be alert to unprompted phone calls, texts, emails or online messages, and to never share sensitive personal information, like bank account PINs and passwords. When in doubt, the authority said, consumers should contact the FCA via its online contact form.

The FCA’s warning comes months after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that impersonation scams had cost Americans $2.95 billion last year.

Meanwhile, research from the PYMNTS Intelligence “The Impact of Financial Scams on Consumers’ Finances and Banking Habits” shows the pervasive nature of this crime, with 30% of U.S. consumers—77 million people—reporting losses to scams in the past five years.

“The financial damage is often significant, with most victims losing over $500 and many suffering losses in the thousands,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this year. “Perhaps more alarmingly, the report debunks the notion that these scams primarily target older generations, revealing that victims span all demographics, including age, education and income.”