Fraudsters are getting bolder. This week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that nearly 5,000 people reported scams in the first half of 2025 where criminals impersonated the regulator itself. Almost 500 victims handed over money, believing they were dealing with the official body tasked with protecting them.
Pause for a moment: what does it say about our financial system when the very organisation charged with safeguarding consumers is now a weapon in the fraudster’s toolkit?
Exploitation Is the Default
For decades, the balance of power in financial services has tilted against the individual. Complex products, hidden fees, conflicted advice, and aggressive sales practices have all eroded trust. Now we face a world where criminals exploit not just our bank accounts but our vulnerabilities, hijacking the names of regulators, charities, and even the language of empowerment itself.
These impersonation scams are particularly cruel because they target trust. They prey on people already anxious, already harmed, or simply hoping for recovery. When a voice on the phone says, “I’m from the FCA, I can help,” it feels like a lifeline. Instead, it’s another trap.
Why Empowerment Is Essential
In a world designed to extract value from the many to benefit the few, self-empowerment is not optional—it’s survival. Knowledge, awareness, and the ability to make independent decisions are the first line of defence.
But empowerment alone is not enough. People also need allies—professionals who stand beside them without seeking to profit from their confusion or distress. Allies who act as fiduciaries in spirit, even outside the regulatory perimeter. Allies who do not want your money, but want you to keep more of it.
This is where true consumer protection lies: not in a paternalistic system that tells you who to trust, but in a community of structurally trustworthy practitioners who have no incentive to exploit you.
The Consumer vs. The System
What these impersonation scams highlight is a deeper truth: the system itself is no longer structurally trustworthy. If regulators can be weaponised as bait, then “trust the system” becomes meaningless advice. Consumers need more than warnings and press releases—they need a fundamentally different model of financial guidance.
That’s why we at the Academy of Life Planning talk about structural trust: designing systems where exploitation is impossible by design, where conflicts of interest are removed, and where planners are accountable to people, not providers.
Moving Forward Together
This is the battle of our age: consumer versus system. Exploiters—whether in suits or scams—will always seek a way to profit. The question is: will we continue to let them design the game, or will we reclaim the rules?
Empowerment begins with saying no to extraction. It grows when you surround yourself with allies who value your sovereignty. And it flourishes when we build communities and systems where trust is not requested, but guaranteed by structure.
Because when even the regulators can be impersonated, the only safe path is to become empowered yourself—and to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who refuse to exploit you.
👉 Next Steps
At the Academy of Life Planning, we’re committed to replacing extraction with empowerment. Join us, and help create a world where financial planning serves people, not predators.
About Get SAFE
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) was born from a simple truth: too many victims of financial abuse are left to suffer in silence.
We exist in memory of Ian Davis—for the ones who did everything right, only to be failed by the systems they trusted. We know that behind every vanished pension, every ignored complaint, and every stonewalled letter is a person—frightened, exhausted, and too often alone.
Get SAFE offers more than sympathy. We offer structure, support, and solidarity.
We provide a voice where there’s been silence, and clarity where there’s been confusion.
We stand beside those who have been exploited, not just to help them recover—but to help them reclaim their story and rebuild their future.
Because financial justice is not a luxury.
It’s a human right.
If you or someone you know has been affected by financial exploitation, we are here.
You are not alone.
Learn more at: Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation).
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