FCA issues three clone-firm warnings: why genuine names, licence numbers and addresses are not enough

The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued three clone-firm warnings on 2 September 2026 covering aptcapital.live, a party using the name “Flagstone Investment Management,” and claimsureltd.co.uk. The shared pattern is the use of genuine company names, previous names, registration numbers, addresses or licence details alongside substituted domains, email addresses or telephone numbers.

The FCA says aptcapital.live is impersonating Aptus Capital Ltd, a genuine registered firm with reference number 1035231. The genuine firm has no connection with the clone.

For “Flagstone Investment Management,” the regulator says the clone uses a previous registered name of an authorised firm and false email addresses. The FCA separately identifies Flagstone Group Ltd (FRN 605504) and Flagstone Investment Management Limited (FRN 676754) as the genuine firms and states they are not connected to the clone.

The FCA says claimsureltd.co.uk falsely uses the name and company number 12333996 of Claimsure Ltd. The genuine registered company has no association with that website.

Regulatory and evidence boundaries

These are formal clone-firm or clone-company warnings. They are not adverse findings against the genuine Aptus, Flagstone or Claimsure entities. The FCA confirms impersonation and unauthorised status, but does not disclose a victim count, loss total, complete funds trail or final criminal judgment.

Why checking a licence number is insufficient

A clone may quote an accurate name, reference number and address or copy branding and employee identities. A real licence number does not authenticate the person contacting you. Verification must connect the legal entity, permitted activities, official domain, registered telephone, email suffix and receiving-account name.

Use reverse contact: independently enter the FCA register and call or visit the genuine firm through details published there. Do not rely on links in advertisements, messages, search results or documents supplied by the caller.

Impact on traders and firms

Pause if a contact pressures for payment, requests personal or crypto transfers, offers a private channel, uses an email domain that differs from the register, or resists a callback through the official switchboard. Preserve emails, chats, payment details, domains and documents for reporting.

Financial firms should monitor previous names, lookalike domains and forged email addresses after rebranding, and publish clear contact and payment rules.

TraderVote view

Clone operations rely on mixing truth with substitutions. A review site that checks only one licence number can unintentionally strengthen the impersonation. Identity reviews should connect five points: entity, permission, domain, contact and funds path.

Sources

FCA aptcapital.live warning, published and accessed 2 September 2026: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/aptcapitallive-clone-fca-registered-firm

FCA Flagstone Investment Management clone warning: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/flagstone-investment-management-clone-fca-authorised-firm

FCA claimsureltd.co.uk clone warning: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/claimsureltdcouk-clone-uk-registered-company

Written independently by Hengyuan from public regulatory information. This article is not investment advice.