My struggle to get the regulator to wake up

I’VE reported at least 750 online investment scam adverts to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the past 15 months. I set out expecting to be feeding information into a well-oiled machine, but I could not have been more wrong.

Firstly, I was surprised to be identifying so many suspicious adverts and sites that the FCA hadn’t seen. For some time, the majority of warnings issued in respect of bond, Isa and savings scams were sites I’d already reported.

Then there were the inexplicably long delays between my reporting a scam and the FCA issuing a warning.

These cases often involve unauthorised UK-based lead generators using fake comparison sites to harvest contact details to sell highly dubious bond investments. Sometimes, I was so concerned about the harm being done during a delay that I asked a journalist to question the FCA press office. The missing warning was then issued within the hour.

Another huge frustration is the FCA’s apparent policy of not engaging with informants. Not only is this demoralising, especially in complex cases that would benefit from discussion, but it also puts consumers at unnecessary risk from preventable frauds. It is heart-breaking to hear from people who have fallen victim to scams long after I reported them.

It does not take thousands of staff and a £700 million budget to churn out proforma Scam Warnings, so I expected the FCA to have formal arrangements with online platforms for rapid removal of adverts, internet registrars for blocking websites and emails, and telecoms operators for cutting off phone lines. I was wrong, and found myself in a meeting with Google before the FCA. I contacted telecoms providers myself, too.

The regulator has finally set up an arrangement with Nominet to block websites and regular meetings with Google. However, there is much more to do. Not least in the area of prosecutions to set a credible deterrent.

An FCA spokesman says: ‘ We issue warnings as soon as [reports] check out, often the same day [scams] are detected or reported. Occasionally we are requested to delay an entry because of prejudice that may be caused to another law enforcement agency.’