Seven questions before money moves.

Before any money moves on a trading app, a crypto coin, a signals group or a pension offer, ask seven questions about how the offer reached you and how it makes you feel. Then look the firm up yourself on your country’s official register of firms.

Last reviewed 2 October 2026. This is general information and not financial advice. No checklist can show that an investment is safe.

The seven questions

They come from the page “Protect yourself from scams” of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (which regulates financial firms in the United Kingdom). Any person in any country can use them.

1. Was it unexpected? A call, email, text, social media message or visit that you did not ask for.
2. Are you being rushed? Offers with a limited-time bonus or a deadline.
3. Does it sound too good to be true? High returns or tempting rewards.
4. Is the offer only for you? Being told you were specially chosen, or asked to keep it secret.
5. Are they flattering you? A friendship built to lower your guard.
6. Are you feeling worried or excited? Strong feelings are used to push people to act.
7. Are they speaking with great authority? Claiming to be authorised while sounding knowledgeable.

One yes is a reason to slow down. Several are a reason to stop. Before You Invest asks questions like these on your own device, and scans a pasted advert for the tricks regulators describe.

Then check the firm yourself

1. Find the firm on the official register in the country where you live. In the United Kingdom that is the Financial Conduct Authority Firm Checker. Before You Invest links to the register for each country.
2. Search the regulator’s warning list for the firm’s name and website address.
3. Contact the firm only through the details on the register, never the phone number or link in the message.
4. Never click links in emails. Type the regulator’s or firm’s address in yourself.
5. Get independent advice before a large decision, and check your bank and card statements regularly.

A firm being on a register means there is a real company you can complain about. It does not mean an investment cannot lose money.

Three things no real firm needs from you

Your seed phrase or recovery phrase (the 12 or 24 words that unlock a crypto wallet), a code sent to your phone, and control of your screen through a screen-sharing app such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer.

What the figures show

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 72,984 investment fraud complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $8,648,617,756, about $8.6 billion. Its report puts cryptocurrency investment fraud at $7.2 billion. These are reports made to a United States agency, so they are the part that was reported.

Sources

The Financial Conduct Authority: protect yourself from scams. Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center 2025 Internet Crime Report (pages 6 to 11).

Related guides

• Someone offers to get your money back: how recovery scams work
• A relative phones asking for money: how to check it is really them
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