A Borrowed Registration: £73,500 and the RichPoint Capital Clone
A Manchester business owner moved savings into what looked like an FCA-regulated brokerage. RichPoint Capital used a real firm’s registration number and a near-identical site — but it was a clone. Combining APP-fraud reimbursement with an on-chain trace returned most of it.
First Contact
A cold call led her to a comparison-site lookalike for RichPoint Capital. The “advisor” quoted a genuine FCA registration number and sent a cloned website and branded PDF brochures.
She did the careful thing and checked the FCA Register — the firm was genuinely listed. Reassured, she agreed to invest, and her first “statement” showed neat, steady growth.
Where the Trail Went Cold
The number was real; the people using it were not. RichPoint Capital was a clone firm — fraudsters impersonating an authorised business, quoting its real registration while operating from their own domain, phone and bank details.
She was persuaded to transfer in tranches to a “segregated client account” that was in fact a money-mule account. The scammers converted each transfer into Bitcoin and moved it on. When she asked to withdraw, a “compliance hold” and a tax demand blocked her.
“I checked the FCA register and the firm was real. What I didn’t know is the people calling me weren’t that firm.”— Claimant statement
Following the Trail
Confirm the clone
We showed that the genuine FCA entry’s contact details, domain and bank account did not match the ones RichPoint had given her — the textbook signature of a clone-firm impersonation.
Build the APP-fraud claim
We assembled an authorised-push-payment reimbursement case for her bank under the UK reimbursement rules and flagged the receiving mule account for recall.
Trace the crypto conversion
From the mule account we obtained the Bitcoin addresses it funded and followed them into a single consolidation wallet.
Exchange filing
The consolidation wallet cashed out through a regulated exchange. We submitted the evidence package and requested a freeze on the destination balance.
Dual recovery
Bank reimbursement for the mule-account tranches combined with the exchange freeze on the crypto branch to return the bulk of her money.
Trail’s End
About £63,945 was returned — APP reimbursement plus the frozen exchange balance. A small early tranche had already been cashed out before tracing began and was lost. Two routes, run in parallel, made the strong result.
Trail Markers
- An “advisor” who quotes a real regulator number but contacts you from a different domain, phone or bank account.
- Verify a firm only with the contact details published on the regulator’s own register — never the ones the caller gives you.
- Requests to pay a “segregated client account” whose name doesn’t match the firm.
- A “compliance hold” or surprise tax demand that suddenly blocks your withdrawal.
Paid a “regulated” firm that turned out to be a clone?
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