In Focus: When things go wrong  

Devon adviser helps client 'scammed' out of £220k by crypto

But while the company does "indeed publicise scams and try so hard to warn our readers (clients and non-clients)", there is only so much an adviser can do. 

"There are a lot of people who are 'in love' with crypto and thus rationality has gone, as they believe in it without constraint. 

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"Any challenge to their love is akin to making an accusation of stupidity, which could encourage them ‘the wrong way’ even more."

Regulatory action from the FCA

Over the past few years, the Financial Conduct Authority has been working with platforms such as Google and Facebook to tackle spurious or suspected scam advertising, as well as issue regular warnings to Britons about putting their money into unregulated 'investments'.

As reported by FTAdviser at the time, the Financial Conduct Authority amended or withdrew 4,151 financial promotions between July and September 2022 in a heavy crackdown.

This was the highest level since the City watchdog started publishing the data.

At the time, a spokesperson for the FCA said: “We are aware that scammers are targeting consumers searching for investments online, in particular through search engines such as Google and social media such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

“This means consumers often need help to understand which products and services are not necessarily authorised or regulated by us.”

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com