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The FCA has participated in international action to stop illegal finfluencers putting consumers' money at risk. Finfluencers are social media personalities who use their platform to promote financial products and share insights and advice with their followers. The FCA issued 2,329 warnings about unauthorised or potentially scam firms and individuals in 2025.
It points out that the content the FCA identified is not allowed under social media platforms' own rules. All large social media platforms have policies that financial services ads targeting UK consumers should only be made by FCA-authorised firms, or ads that have been approved by an FCA authorised firm.
Seventeen regulators worldwide including in Brazil, Singapore, Ireland, New Zealand and Denmark, among others, took part in the "week of action" which included enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns, and educational programmes for finfluencers who want to act responsibly. In the UK, the FCA:
- Obtained a guilty plea from Geordie Shore's Aaron Chalmers for illegal promotions on social media. Criminal proceedings have started against two other individuals for similar offences.
- Sent four targeted warning letters to individuals suspected of engaging in unauthorised financial promotions.
- Issued 34 warning alerts against unauthorised firms or individuals, and updated 14 additional warnings.
- Made 120 account takedown requests to social media platforms hosting illegal finfluencer content. Within these accounts, the FCA identified 1,267 illegal financial adverts, which reached a minimum of 2,338,372 UK accounts. 66% of these adverts were from firms or individuals already on the FCA's Warning List.
The FCA is calling for social media platforms to play a more proactive role in stopping illegal financial promotions at source. In its opinion, social media platforms are not doing enough to uphold their own policies to block illegal content.
Brands using influencers should make sure that they require influencers to comply with the relevant laws and regulations.
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