Free for anyone in the UK

Check a business before you pay.

An investment offer, a broker, a recruiter, a company you've never dealt with. Type the name you were given and we ask the FCA, Companies House and HMRC at the same time, then show you what each one says.

What happens when you press Check

A sample check of a made-up business

  1. You type the name you were given

    A company name, a trading name or a website address.

  2. We ask three official registers at once

    FCAFinancial Services Register and Warning ListOn the Warning List
    Companies HouseThe UK register of companiesCompany found
    HMRCBusinesses it supervises for money launderingNot listed

  3. You get one plain answer, with the evidence

    Stop: we found a serious warning sign A real company registration doesn't cancel an FCA warning. One warning outweighs any number of passes.

Before you reply

Forward the messages to us first.

A new "trading mentor", a group promising big returns, a tip from someone you've never met. Send the chat to our Telegram checker and it tells you how far along an investment scam it looks, and what to do about it.

  • Forward the messages or paste them in
  • Built for investment scams. Romance, job and other scams aren't covered yet
  • Type /private and we store nothing you send. The checker confirms when it's on
Open @scamfendr_bot on Telegram

  1. You forward the messages

    The whole conversation helps most: how it started, and what they're asking for now.

  2. It's read against the six stages these scams follow

    An AI model reads the messages as you wrote them, compares them with each stage and says which one they look closest to.

    1. Approach
    2. Building credibility
    3. Pressure to act now
    4. A small first payment
    5. Pushing for more
    6. Blocking withdrawals

  3. Personal details are removed before we store anything

    Phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers and links come out of the copy we keep. With /private, we keep nothing.

  4. You get a plain answer and what to do now

    A sample reply:

    High risk · Phase 4: Trial Investment. A small first deposit is how these schemes win your trust before asking for more. Don't send money, and don't install any app they send you.

If you've already sent money

Take a breath. Here's what happens next.

First, call your bank

Do this now, before anything else, and tell them what happened. The sooner your bank or payment firm knows, the more it can do to protect your account.

Use the number in your banking app or on the back of your card, or dial 159, which connects you to your bank. Never use a number from a search result, or one the people who contacted you gave you.

Dial 159 Find your bank in Who to contact

Sources: Take Five to Stop Fraud, Citizens Advice, Stop Scams UK

None of this is your fault. These scams are run by professionals. We help you put what happened into the documents your bank, Report Fraud and the Ombudsman each expect, one plain question at a time.

If you were tricked into sending money by bank transfer (Faster Payments or CHAPS) since 7 October 2024, your bank or payment firm must normally reimburse you, up to £85,000 per claim. This is called authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Source: Payment Systems Regulator, policy statement PS23/3

Start my case, free

You sign in with a code we email you. No password.

  1. You answer five short steps

    At your pace. Your answers are saved on this device as you go.

    1. 1 What happened
    2. 2 Timeline
    3. 3 Losses
    4. 4 Scammer
    5. 5 Review

  2. We draft three documents

    • Your report for Report FraudThe UK's fraud reporting service, formerly Action Fraud. In Scotland, you report to Police Scotland on 101.
    • A complaint letter to your bankAsks for reimbursement under the APP fraud rules, and for a written answer.
    • A complaint to the Financial Ombudsman ServiceKept ready, in case your bank says no or doesn't answer.

  3. You check them, then send them yourself

    Read them before you send them. Nothing is sent on your behalf, and the documents are yours to keep.

  4. Your bank replies

    It should answer your complaint in writing within 15 business days, or up to 35 if it tells you why it needs longer. Your bank decides whether to reimburse you.

  5. If the answer is no, the Ombudsman can look again

    Send your Ombudsman complaint if your bank says no, or you've heard nothing after 8 weeks. You have 6 months from the bank's final response.

See every screen before you start.

What you'll see when you check a business, forward a chat or start a case, from the first page to the last, and what we check and what we don't.

How ScamFendr works

No blame, ever

Scams are built by professionals to fool careful people. Being caught by one is not a failure of intelligence.

Plain English

No legal jargon, and no forms that assume you already know how the system works.

Your data stays yours

We collect as little as we can. Your email address is kept only as a one-way code, never in plain text, and nothing is sold.