How to spot a debt advice scam

The clearest warning signs

• An up-front fee. Nobody needs to charge you before doing anything. Every service listed at the foot of this page is free.
• “Government scheme” language. Adverts promising a “government-backed write-off” or “new legislation to clear your debt” are marketing, not policy. No such scheme exists.
• A specific percentage written off, before anyone has seen your figures. “Write off up to 85% of your debt” is an advertising slogan. What an IVA writes off depends on what your creditors agree to.
• Pressure to decide today. No legitimate debt solution expires this afternoon.
• Contact you never asked for — a cold call, a text, a social media message, a WhatsApp from someone who says they can help.
• Being told not to speak to your creditors, or to ignore letters from them.
• Payment to a personal account, by transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency.
• A charity-sounding name attached to a company that is not a charity. Check the Charity Commission register, or the OSCR register in Scotland.

Lead generators are a separate problem

Many sites that look like advice services are lead generators: their business is collecting your details and selling them on. That is not necessarily illegal, and some are FCA authorised, but it explains a lot of what people experience — the form that asks for a phone number before it tells you anything, the eight calls in the following two days, and the advice that always seems to point towards the same product.

The tell is usually structural. A site that offers information and gives you telephone numbers you can ring yourself is behaving like an information service. A site whose every path leads to a form is collecting leads.

Two minutes of checking

1. Search the FCA register at register.fca.org.uk for the firm and the trading name, and check the contact details match — see how to check a firm on the FCA register.
2. Search Companies House for the company behind the brand. A company incorporated last month running a national advertising campaign is worth a second look.
3. Look for a real address and a named person. Anonymity is the common factor in almost every case that goes wrong.
4. Ring a charity and describe the offer. StepChange and National Debtline hear about these constantly and will tell you straight away whether it sounds legitimate.

If you have already paid or given out details

1. Contact your bank immediately. Ask them to stop any payment mandate you did not knowingly set up and to monitor the account. If you paid by card or transfer, ask about chargeback or a reimbursement claim — UK banks operate a reimbursement scheme for many authorised push payment scams.
2. Report it. Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or Police Scotland on 101. Report the firm to the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
3. Complain formally to the firm if it is authorised, then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free.
4. Check where your money went. Contact your creditors directly and ask what payments they have received. See how to find out who holds your debt plan.
5. Watch for the follow-up scam. People who have lost money are often approached again by someone offering to recover it for a fee. No legitimate recovery service works that way.

The simple rule

If you are in debt, the first call should always be to a free service. They will tell you what your options are, including the ones nobody makes money from. If a commercial firm is genuinely the right answer for you, that advice will still be there afterwards — and you will be far better placed to judge it.

More guides on this site

• How to find out who holds your debt plan
• How to check a debt firm on the FCA register
• DMP, IVA or bankruptcy: what the differences actually are

See all guides