In short
- A clone: a copy of a real broker's site with substituted contacts and funding details.
- The check starts with the regulator's register: the licence is looked up by number, the contacts are cross-checked.
- The legal entity in the footer must match the one in the client agreement: that's who opens the account.
- Money goes in only through the client area on the official domain.
What the scheme looks like
The FCA describes “clone firms” like this: fraudsters use the name, address and licence number of a real regulated firm and copy its site with small changes, for example a different phone number or domain. From the outside everything looks like a well-known broker, only the money doesn't go to the broker. Then “managers” come in with promises of returns and pressure to fund the account faster.
A five-minute check
- Take the licence number and the legal entity name from the site's footer and look them up in the official register of the regulator whose licence is claimed. The link for checking it is in that regulator's card on the Regulators page.
- Cross-check the contacts and domain against the register's data: with a clone the name and number match but the contacts differ. The FCA explicitly advises contacting a firm only via the contacts in the register.
- Cross-check the legal entity in the footer against the entity in the client agreement: who actually opens the account.
- Reach the broker's site via a bookmark or a manually typed official domain, not via a link from a messenger, an email or an ad.
Red flags
- They contacted you first and promise returns or “signals”.
- They rush you: “the window is closing”, “the rate expires today”.
- Funding details: an individual's card or a crypto wallet sent in a chat, rather than the payment form of the client area.
- The site footer has no legal entity or licence number, or they aren't found in the register.
Sources
- FCA: clone firms and individuals.
- The site's Regulators page: the verification link for each regulator.