The Financial Conduct Authority has warned of a fake website attempting to impersonate its own financial services register.
In a warning published yesterday (June 11) the regulator said it was working to get the page, with the domain www.register-fca.org, taken down.
The City watchdog also placed a warning on its Twitter account as it moved to warn members of the public about the site, which claims to advertise financial adviser jobs and offers "job interview tips".
The FCA has warned of this website
Meanwhile the regulator's real register has been on the receiving end of significant criticism in recent years, including from its own watchdog the Complaints Commissioner.
In May last year the commissioner warned of "seriously inaccurate" entries on the register in a case in which the FCA's failures were found to have been a "facilitator to criminal activity" which contributed to the loss of a consumer's investment to fraud.
Antony Townsend said it was not the first time he had dealt with a case showing "inaccurate or misleading" information, having upheld a complaint in June 2018 in which a clone firm was able to take advantage of the FCA's "woefully inaccurate" register.
The FCA argued as a public body it had no obligation in general law, or under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, to compensate consumers for errors under the register.
But the regulator has previously admitted its register still holds inaccurate data, renewing its promise in July last year to overhaul the site in a bid to "improve the quality and reliability of key pieces of information that consumers and firms rely on".
In its annual report and accounts for 2018/19 the FCA said the register had "undoubtedly" prevented harm to consumers, but acknowledged it also carried risk in the form of out of date data and other inaccuracies.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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