The FCA has revealed it received more than 4,000 'fake FCA' scam reports from consumers in the first six months of 2025.

The regulator said there had been 4,465 reports of bogus FCA scams to its consumer helpline already this year from people approached by scammers impersonating the FCA.

Some 480 victims were duped into sending money to the fraudsters, the FCA said.

The majority of reports, almost two-thirds, came from people aged 56 or older.

Across the whole of 2024 there were 10,379 reports of fake FCA scams and 991 people handed over money.

The regulator said one of the most common scam methods reported is fraudsters claiming that the FCA has recovered funds from a crypto wallet that was opened illegally in the individual’s name. The scammers claim they can remit this non-existent money to the individual.

Another common method is to target loan scam victims, who are often very vulnerable, and claim the FCA can help them recover the money they have lost. They are then persuaded to hand over further funds.

A separate trend involves emailing consumers telling them their creditors have taken out a County Court Judgement against them and they need to pay the FCA the money owed.

So-called ‘Pig butchering’ is a nasty trend where scammers ‘fatten up’ victims by building a connection, often a romantic one, and then carrying out a long-term investment scam. After the victim has lost money, scammers attempt to defraud victims a second time by pretending to be the FCA under the guise of helping them to recover the money.

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

Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, said: “This new warning from the FCA makes for grim reading, as financial scammers are now impersonating the regulator itself. The figures represent the total number of reports to the FCA where people realise they’ve been targeted and are willing to make a report. However, the true volume of victims and attempts will likely be much higher.

“Depressingly, the most vulnerable people continue to be those who are most actively targeted. We saw financial vulnerability particularly exposed by fraudsters during the worst of the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis that followed it.

“Impersonation schemes are particularly attractive to these bad actors. One common technique involves a call out of the blue, with fraudsters claiming to be from the FCA and having recovered funds from cryptocurrency wallets opened in the target’s name without their knowledge. With the promise of a windfall, the scammers will then try to persuade people to hand over sensitive bank information including account access and PIN details.”

• Report scams to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via its website. If you live in Scotland, you should report to Police Scotland by calling 101, or contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000.