IC Markets Clone Sites: How UK Traders Spot the Fakes

An IC Markets clone is a fake website or "account manager" that borrows the name, licence numbers and address of the real IC Markets (now trading as IC) to take your money. The FCA has warned about several, including icmarketpro.com and icm-market.com, which copied the details of IC Markets (EU) Ltd. You can spot one quickly once you know that the genuine firm’s website is ic.com (formerly icmarkets.com), it has no UK office, it isn’t FCA authorised, and no genuine IC representative should be offering to manage your trades over WhatsApp or Telegram. Anyone claiming to be an FCA-regulated IC Markets, or ringing from a London number, is not IC.

Below are the FCA warnings that name IC lookalikes, the scripts UK victims typically hear, a checklist you can run in ten minutes, and what to do straight away if you have already paid.

What the FCA has flagged

The main FCA clone warning is titled "ICMarkets (Clone of authorised firm)". It was first published on 7 January 2022 and last updated on 30 August 2024. In the FCA’s words, the firm "is not authorised by us but has been contacting people pretending to be an authorised firm", and that scammers are falsely claiming the name, registration numbers and other details of companies in the IC Markets group. The warning lists these websites:

The FCA names IC Markets (EU) Ltd as the genuine firm the fraudsters claim to work for, listing its firm reference number 827935 and a Limassol address. That FRN is now a historical record with no current UK permission, which is precisely why it is useful to a fraudster. A victim who checks the number finds a real company on the FCA Register and stops looking. The clone’s own phone numbers, including a UK mobile, and email addresses were different from the genuine firm’s.

A second, separate FCA warning, first published on 26 May 2026, covers "ICMARKET" trading from icapitalmarket.net. That entry gives addresses in Great Neck, New York, and at 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf. The FCA points out that firms like this may give incorrect contact details that change over time or belong to other businesses to look genuine.

Don’t confuse either of these with the Warning List entry against IC Markets Global, which concerns the real offshore IC business and names ic.com. That entry is about the absence of UK authorisation, not about impersonation. Is IC Markets FCA regulated? sets all three FCA records side by side.

How clones reach UK traders

Clone operators rarely wait for you to find their website. They find you, then use the IC name to answer the obvious "is this legit?" question before you ask it. The patterns below are common across FX clone scams reported in the UK:

• WhatsApp or Telegram "account managers". Someone adds you to a trading group or messages you directly, shares screenshots of winning trades and offers to open an IC Markets account "with a dedicated manager".
• Cold calls. A caller with a London or Manchester number says they work for IC Markets UK, often after you have filled in a form on a social media advert.
• Social media adverts. Adverts or finfluencer posts promote "FCA-regulated IC Markets" with guaranteed monthly returns, sometimes using a fake celebrity endorsement.
• Romance and friendship scams. A contact built up over weeks introduces "their broker", a site with an IC-like name, and helps you deposit.
• Rebrand pretexts. Since the move to ic.com, messages claim your account needs "migration" or "re-verification" on a new site.

Deposits are then pushed through bank transfer to a personal or unrelated company account, or through crypto. The dashboard shows healthy profits. Trouble starts at withdrawal, when the victim is asked to pay "tax", "anti-money laundering fees" or "release charges" first. That second demand is the clearest sign of all. Our wider piece on finfluencer and Telegram scams covers these scripts in more depth.

Fake login pages and "support" accounts on social media

A second kind of impersonation goes after people who already hold a genuine IC account. Instead of posing as a broker, it poses as IC’s help desk. Pages and profiles on Facebook, X, Instagram and Telegram borrow the logo and call themselves "client support" or "secure login", and some pay for search adverts. A favourite trick is to reply to a public post about a slow withdrawal with an offer to "sort it out in DMs". What they want is your password, a two-factor code, remote access to your computer or a "verification fee".

Fake login pages are the other half of the same scheme. They copy the sign-in screen closely, and once you type your email and password the operator can try your details on the real client area. The genuine one is secure.ic.com. IC does run its own WhatsApp, Telegram and Messenger channels, linked from ic.com, so a familiar app name proves nothing on its own; what matters is whether you reached the channel from the site you typed yourself. Our piece on the ic.com move covers safe login habits in more detail.

If you have already typed your details into a page you now doubt, go straight to secure.ic.com through your own bookmark, reset the password and switch on two-factor authentication. Then open live chat from ic.com, tell IC what happened, and check that your registered email, bank details and withdrawal history look right. Change the same password anywhere else you used it, report the fake profile to the platform hosting it, and tell the FCA through its consumer helpline.

A ten-minute check

Run through these before you send a penny, or right now if you are already talking to someone:

1. Type the address yourself. The real site is ic.com, and the old icmarkets.com forwards there. Any other spelling, hyphen, extra word or ending, including .co.uk, is not IC.
2. Search the FCA Warning List for the name and domain you were given. Several IC lookalikes are already listed. Then look up the FRN on the Financial Services Register and compare the website, phone and email there with the ones you have.
3. Check the bank details. A genuine broker takes deposits into an account in its own company name, through its own client area. Paying a personal account, a crypto wallet address sent by message, or an unrelated company is a red flag.
4. Test the promises. Guaranteed returns, a manager who trades for you, or pressure to deposit today do not match how IC or any legitimate broker operates.
5. Contact IC through ic.com. Open live chat from the site you typed yourself and ask whether the person or domain is connected to IC.
6. Call the FCA on 0800 111 6768 if anything is unclear. The FCA will never ask you to transfer money.

If you have already paid

Act fast. The sooner a bank knows, the more chance there is of freezing money before it moves on.

1. Call your bank on 159. The Stop Scams UK number connects you to most major UK banks, and because you dial it yourself you know you are reaching your real bank. Tell them it is an authorised push payment scam and ask them to contact the receiving bank.
2. Report to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. You will get a reference number your bank may ask for.
3. Tell the FCA about the clone through its consumer helpline, so the domain can be added to its warnings.
4. Stop all contact and pay nothing more, whatever you are told about fees to release a balance.
5. Keep evidence: screenshots of chats, the web address, emails, call logs and every payment reference.

Under the Payment Systems Regulator’s reimbursement rules, in force since 7 October 2024, victims of authorised push payment scams sent by Faster Payments or CHAPS can generally claim up to £85,000. Your bank may apply an excess of up to £100, and you have 13 months from the last payment to claim. Card payments, crypto transfers and international payments may fall outside those rules, which is one reason scammers push crypto so hard. Our guide to reporting forex scams in the UK covers the reimbursement process.

Clones versus the real IC

Being clear about what the genuine firm is makes a fake far easier to spot. The real IC is a licensed group: International Capital Markets Pty Ltd under ASIC in Australia, IC Markets (EU) Ltd under CySEC, Raw Trading Ltd under the Seychelles FSA, plus companies in the Bahamas and Kenya. For UK residents it is an offshore account with no FCA protection, and the FCA has warned against dealing with it for that reason. It is not, however, a firm that phones strangers promising returns.

Even though FX Recap is an IC Markets affiliate, we would rather readers used an FCA-authorised provider than fell for a fake IC. Clones also borrow the genuine firm’s reputation, so our summary of what UK traders say about IC Markets explains how to make sure a review profile belongs to the real firm. If you want UK protection, including the FSCS and the Ombudsman, IC Markets alternatives for UK traders is the place to start.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Is IC Markets FCA regulated?
• IC Markets is now IC: the ic.com move
• How to report forex scams in the UK
• Finfluencer and Telegram trading scams
• How to check a broker on the FCA Register
• Scam brokers list