What to do if your firm is cloned
By Tom · Last reviewed · 2 minute read
If the FCA warns that a clone firm is using your name or FRN, tell your compliance support, warn your clients with the fraudsters' exact details, and put a notice on your website. Then keep watching, because the same fraudsters often come back with new numbers and email addresses.
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A clone firm is a scam that borrows a real firm's identity. The fraudsters use your firm's name, FRN and sometimes your address, then add their own phone numbers, email addresses and websites. When someone checks the FCA Register, they find a real, authorised firm and feel reassured. There's more on how the scam works in what is a clone firm?
Small advice firms get cloned as well as big names. If it happens to you, this is the order I'd work through.
1. Read the FCA's warning
Clone warnings appear on the FCA Warning List. Each warning lists exactly what the fraudsters have been using: the name, phone numbers, emails, websites and sometimes a fake address or a named "adviser". Those details are what you'll pass on to clients, so copy them exactly. The FCA also notes that scammers may change details or mix them with your real ones, so treat the list as a starting point.
You can see every warning that names your firm in the free FCA clone check.
2. Tell your compliance support
Tell your compliance consultant, network or principal before you contact anyone else. They may already know, and they'll want to log it. If you're an appointed representative and your principal has been cloned, your clients may be approached using the principal's name, so it affects you too.
If you know more than the warning says, for example a client has forwarded you an email from the fraudsters, call the FCA's Firm Helpline on 0300 500 0597 (see the FCA's contact page).
3. Warn your clients
Most clone scams target people who already trust the firm's name. Send your clients a short, plain message:
- the name and details the fraudsters are using
- that they're nothing to do with you
- how you will and won't contact them (for example, you'll never ask them to move money to a new account by email)
- to call you on the number they already have if anything seems odd
Keep it calm. You want clients to be careful, not frightened of your emails.
4. Put a notice on your website
Anyone who searches for your firm after an approach should land on a clear warning. Put a short notice on your homepage or contact page with the fraudsters' details and your real contact details, and link to the FCA's warning so people can see it's genuine. If you have a social media page, pin the same notice there.
5. Check your own details are right
Make sure your website, email signature and FCA Register entry all show the same phone number, address and website. When they match, it's much easier for a client to spot the fake one. The FCA website compliance checker covers the details your site should show.
6. Keep watching
Clone warnings are often updated, and the same fraudsters can come back months later with a new phone number. Sign up to my free FCA updates email with your FRN and you'll get an email the same day a new warning names your firm, with the fraudsters' details and wording for your clients and your website already filled in.
Questions people ask
How do I find out if my firm has been cloned?
The FCA publishes a warning for each clone firm it finds, and each one names the genuine firm and its FRN. You can search those warnings for your FRN with my free FCA clone check, and get an email the day a new one names you.
Who do I tell at the FCA?
The FCA's Firm Helpline, on 0300 500 0597, is the number it gives authorised firms that think they've been cloned. Have any extra details ready, such as the phone numbers or emails clients have mentioned.
Is my firm responsible if a client loses money to a clone?
A clone firm isn't you, and the FCA's warning says so publicly. But clients who were scammed may still contact you, and some will be upset. Ask your compliance support and your professional indemnity insurer how to handle any complaint, and keep a record of what you did and when.
Can the FCA take the clone's website down?
Ask the FCA when you call its Firm Helpline. Even when a site is taken down, new ones can appear quickly, so warning your own clients matters more than waiting.
Where do clients report a scam?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, through Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, Police Scotland on 101. If they've sent money, they should call their bank straight away.