Lesson 8.6 · 6 of 6 · How to avoid investment scams
How to check a broker on the FCA Register and other registers
Before sending any money, look the firm up on the regulator’s register in its country and check that the website and contact details match the register. Then search for the name on IOSCO’s I-SCAN alerts and your regulator’s warning list. If the firm isn’t on the register, send nothing.
Terms in this lesson
- Broker
- The firm through which you buy and sell stocks, ETFs and other investments.
- Investor compensation scheme
- The protection that returns your cash and shares, up to a limit, if your broker goes bankrupt.
Opening question
A broker tells you it is “fully regulated”. What is the most reliable way to check?
Logos, emailed licences and reviews can all be faked. The register is kept by the regulator, and scammers can’t change it. The FCA advises checking it before you buy anything.
It does not matter if you get it wrong: trying first helps you remember.
The FCA, Central Bank of Ireland and SEC registers
Definition
What is a regulator’s register?
The official list of firms allowed to offer you investment services.
Every country has a regulator that authorises brokers. In the UK it is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in Ireland the Central Bank of Ireland, and in the US the SEC, with FINRA overseeing broker-dealers. Each publishes a free online register.
| Where | Register | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| UK | FCA Firm Checker and Financial Services Register | Whether a firm is authorised, what it may offer and its confirmed contact details; the Register also holds the full history |
| UK | FCA Warning List | Firms the FCA has warned about, including unauthorised firms and clones |
| Ireland | Central Bank of Ireland Registers | Whether a firm is authorised to do business in Ireland; warnings about unauthorised firms are published separately |
| US | SEC IAPD and FINRA BrokerCheck | Registration and disciplinary history of firms and individual professionals |
Always open the regulator’s website yourself, never through a link sent by the firm.
Match the terms
Tap a term, then its definition.
A register tells you who is allowed to operate. A warning list or I-SCAN tells you who regulators have warned about.
IOSCO I-SCAN alerts and clone firms
Watch out
What is IOSCO I-SCAN?
The list where regulators around the world publish alerts about unauthorised firms.
IOSCO is the international body of securities regulators. On I-SCAN, the International Securities & Commodities Alerts Network, member regulators post alerts about firms offering investments without authorisation, including those using names similar to genuine firms. IOSCO says the list is not complete, so a firm missing from it is not automatically safe.
Definition
What is a clone firm?
A fake firm that copies the name, address or reference number of a real one.
Scammers pick an authorised firm, copy its details and change only the website, email or phone number. The register shows the real firm, so the check seems to pass. The difference is in the contact details, which is why you always compare them with the register.
Myth or fact?
“If the firm’s name is on the FCA Register, I can send money to the account the adviser gave me.”
Myth. The name may belong to a real firm and have been copied by scammers. What matters is whether the website, phone number and bank details are those of the firm on the register. Contact the firm only through the details listed there.
Check yourself
“Alpha Invest Ltd” is on the register with the website alpha-invest.co.uk. The adviser who calls you sends a link to alpha-invest-uk.com. What do you do?
This exercise is in the free account, where we also save your progress.
Create a free accountHow to check a broker, step by step
The check takes a few minutes and you do it once, before your first transfer. Do it again whenever a firm you know contacts you through a new channel.
Put in order
Put the steps of the check in order, from first to last.
This exercise is in the free account, where we also save your progress.
Create a free accountWhat would you do?
You have found a broker with very low fees. It isn’t on the FCA Register, but its website says it is licensed in a country you have never dealt with. What do you do?
This exercise is in the free account, where we also save your progress.
Create a free accountWhat you learned
- Check any broker on its regulator’s register, opened yourself rather than through a link.
- Clone firms copy real firms’ names: always compare the website and phone number with the register.
- IOSCO I-SCAN gathers regulators’ alerts, but it is not a complete list.
You reached the end
Keep what you learned
With a free account we remember your lessons, bring back the questions you got wrong exactly when you need them and keep your streak.
Save your progress with a free accountLessons are educational. They are not a recommendation to buy or sell. Investing involves risk and you can lose money. Sources: FCA, “How to check a firm or individual is authorised”, Firm Checker launch (10 December 2025) and Warning List; Central Bank of Ireland, Registers and unauthorised firms warnings; SEC Investor.gov (IAPD) and FINRA BrokerCheck; IOSCO, International Securities & Commodities Alerts Network (I-SCAN).