FCA leads global action to stop illegal finfluencers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has led international action to stop illegal finfluencers putting consumers’ money at risk.

Seventeen regulators worldwide took part in the ‘week of action’, which included enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns, and educational programmes for finfluencers who want to act responsibly. Activity started on 20 April 2026.

In the UK, the FCA:

• Secured a guilty plea from Geordie Shore’s Aaron Chalmers for illegal promotions on social media. Criminal proceedings have been commenced against a further 2 individuals for similar offences.
• Sent 4 targeted warning letters to individuals suspected of engaging in unauthorised financial promotions.
• Issued 34 warning alerts against unauthorised firms or individuals, and updated an additional 14 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 financial regulator is calling for social media platforms to step up and play a more proactive role in stopping illegal financial promotions at source. Social media platforms are not doing enough to uphold their own policies to block illegal content.

Steve Smart, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said “This collective push with international partners is vital in helping to protect millions of consumers from harm. We will only make real progress in the fight against financial crime if every part of the system plays its role – including social media firms.”