Digital services make it faster and easier than ever for consumers to use financial services. Consumers need good information to make informed decisions. But this doesn’t always happen. Instead, they’re often targeted with adverts that are unclear, unfair, misleading or illegally communicated by unauthorised persons.
Non-compliant or illegal financial promotions can lead to a range of consumer harms including unsuitable purchases and financial losses. Our aim was to reduce the potential for these harms.
Suitability and treatment
Suitability and treatment icon
Outcome 1: Reduce the potential for consumer financial losses from mis-selling products due to the issuing of non-compliant financial promotions by authorised entities
| Metric code | Metric description | Source | Baseline Value | Year 1 values | Year 2 values | Year 3 values | Latest status (year 3 value compared to baseline) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IHT1-M01 | An increase in the number of interventions on non-compliant financial promotions by authorised firms | FCA data | 573 interventions (2021) | 8,582 interventions (2022) | 10,008 (2023) | 19,766 (2024) | Improved |
Outcome 2: Reduce the potential for consumer financial losses and mis-selling products due to the issuing of illegal financial promotions by unauthorised entities
| Metric code | Metric description | Source | Baseline Value | Year 1 values | Year 2 values | Year 3 values | Latest status (year 3 value compared to baseline)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IHT2-M01 | An increase in the number of warnings on FCA website about unauthorised entities | FCA data | 1,410 warnings (2021) | 1,882 (2022) | 2,286 (2023) | 2,240 (2024) | Improved |
Suitability and treatment/confidence
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Outcome 3: Reduce the potential for financial loss from scams and the mis-selling of high-risk non-standard investments involving authorised firms
| Metric code | Metric description | Source | Baseline Value | Year 1 values | Year 2 values | Year 3 values | Latest status (year 3 value compared to baseline) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IHT3-M01
Also metric CCO3-M03[1] and metric PFC1-M01 under topline outcome on consumer confidence and the Reducing and preventing financial crime commitment. | Reported investment fraud victims and losses
| National Fraud Intelligence Bureau
| 26,482 total reported victims (2021) | 25,558 total reported victims (2022) | 26,643 total reported victims (2023) | 24,621 total reported victims (2024) | Improved |
£832.5m total reported losses (2021) | £888.8m total reported losses (2022) | £525.7m total reported losses (2023) | £552.6m total reported losses (2024) | ||||
28% growth in reported victims (Between 2020 and 2021) | 3.5% reduction in reported victims (Between 2021 and 2022) | 4.2% growth in reported victims (Between 2022 and 2023) | 7.6% reduction in reported victims (Between 2023 and 2024) | ||||
53% growth in losses (Between 2020 and 2021) | 6.8% growth in losses (Between 2021 and 2022) | 40.8% reduction in losses (Between 2022 and 2023) | 5.1% growth in losses (Between 2023 and 2024) | ||||
| IHT3-M02 | Reduction in the proportion of consumers investing in high-risk investments (HRIs) whose general tolerance to risk is very low or who demonstrate any characteristics of vulnerability | FCA Financial Lives Survey (FLS)[2] | 43% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, innovative finance ISAs, peer-to-peer lending or investment based crowdfunding products) have a very low general tolerance for risk or demonstrate at least 1 characteristic of vulnerability (2020) | 44% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low general tolerance for risk or demonstrate at least 1 characteristic of vulnerability (2022) | 48% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low general tolerance for risk or demonstrate at least one characteristic of vulnerability (2023 re-contact survey) | 50% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low general tolerance for risk or demonstrate at least one characteristic of vulnerability (2024) Difference between year 3 and baseline value is statistically significant. | Declined |
| IHT3-M03 | Reduction in the proportion of consumers investing in HRIs whose tolerance to investment risk is very low or who demonstrate characteristics of vulnerability | FCA Financial Lives Survey (FLS[3]) | 52% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low tolerance for investment risk or demonstrate at least 1 characteristic of vulnerability (2022) | 55% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low tolerance for investment risk or demonstrate at least one characteristic of vulnerability (2023 re-contact survey) | 54% of consumers with high-risk investments (cryptoassets, peer-to-peer lending, Innovative Finance ISAs, investment-based crowdfunding, CFDs, shares in unlisted companies, mini-bonds) have a very low tolerance for investment risk or demonstrate at least one characteristic of vulnerability (2024) Difference between year 2 and baseline value is not statistically significant. | Little or no change |
What the latest metric values tell us
Over our 3-year strategy we set out to:
- Reduce the potential for consumer financial losses from mis-selling products due to the issuing of non-compliant financial promotions by authorised entities.
- Reduce the potential for consumer financial losses and mis-selling products due to the issuing of illegal financial promotions by unauthorised entities.
- Reduce the potential for financial loss from scams and the mis-selling of high-risk non-standard investments involving authorised firms.
Overall, we made good progress against the outcomes we set out to achieve, but we still have more to do. Our new strategy will continue our focus on helping consumers to navigate their financial lives and fighting financial crime.
Over the past 3 years, we consistently increased the number of non-compliant financial promotions that we stopped. We remain concerned about the levels of compliance with the financial promotions’ rules and will keep focusing on this area to reduce consumer harm.
The number of financial promotions that we required authorised firms to withdraw or amend increased by 130% compared to 2022. This means consumers were less likely to encounter a financial promotion that was unclear, unfair or was misleading. We continue to effectively address promotions that are likely to lead to mis-selling and financial losses to reduce harm to consumers.
Our FLS data shows there has been no statistically significant change over the past 3 years in the proportion of consumers holding high-risk investments whose general tolerance to risk is very low or who demonstrate at least one characteristic of vulnerability. Although we have made policy changes to strengthen protections relating to high-risk investments, these largely relate to new investors. The changes will take some time to have any material impact on the overall number of consumers holding high-risk investments.
It remains challenging to measure our impact on overall investment fraud trends as there are wide-ranging drivers of fraud and parties who can affect its prevalence and impact. Over the past 3 years, we have made a significant contribution to reducing the potential for financial loss from scams through interventions to protect consumers and campaigns to raise their awareness. The ‘Reducing and preventing financial crime’ section of these webpages explains more about what the latest metric values for investment fraud tell us and our 2024/25 Annual Report further highlights our work in this area.