Fake FCA email

YOUR COMPLIANCE MATTERS: Fake FCA email

Relevance:                         All firms.

Action required:               Fake FCA email scam – please warn your staff

We have been asked to warn client firms to be alert to a “very realistic” phishing email that is currently active sent by scammers pretending to be the FCA.

It has been suggested in some trade press that the email originates from Arizona and has been sent to a number of firms over the past 24 hours.

It comes from the email address connect6@gabriel-FCA.org.uk (but with different numbers after “connect” and asks the addressed person to fill in a “compliance questionnaire”.

The phishing email is labelled “Due diligence” at the top and contains the correct FCA office address in the footer.

The FCA has confirmed the email referred to above is a scam and that firms should NOT click on any links or reply to the scammer directly.

If your firm has already done so, then we strongly suggest you notify your IT department and run the necessary checks.

The FCA provides guidance on fake emails, websites, letters, and phone calls on its website.

This states “Some fraudsters contact people and firms through emails, letters and on the phone, claiming to be from the FCA or using the name of FCA employees to make them seem genuine. We send emails from addresses ending in @fca.org.uk and @fcanewsletters.org.uk but be aware that fraudsters can ‘clone’ these email addresses to make their emails seem genuine.”

So, if this sort of email lands in your inbox don’t do anything but DELETE IT.