A global crackdown on rogue 'finfluencers' (social media influencers) has been launched this week by nine regulators and is being spearheaded by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA has joined with regulators from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy and the United Arab Emirates to take part in the week of action, which began on 2 June.

The aim campaign is to protect social media users from rogue promotions by financial influencers.

The regulators warned that some social media personalities claim to have lavish lifestyles on online videos and posts to push products or services illegally.

In the UK, the FCA said it has:

• Made three arrests with the support of City of London Police
• Authorised criminal proceedings against three individuals
• Invited four finfluencers in for interview
• Sent seven cease and desist letters
• Issued 50 warning alerts

The warning alerts will result in more than 650 'take down' requests on social media platforms and affect more than 50 websites operated by unauthorised finfluencers.

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Our message to finfluencers is loud and clear. They must act responsibly and only promote financial products where they are authorised to do so – or face the consequences.”

Giang Hughes, business support manager at Simplify Consulting, said: "We expect the regulator to be more deeply involved with social media firms to help protect consumers. Providing a platform upon which unauthorised (and often uneducated) individuals can ‘advise’ consumers without any recourse is not consistent with the highly-regulated landscape upon which financial advice firms must operate within.”

She said it was time for social media platforms to take their responsibilities seriously.

Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: "Social media firms have the greatest power when it comes to shutting down dodgy or illegal finfluencers, as they can close their accounts - but they clearly aren't doing nearly enough.

“It's crucial that social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok and X take this problem seriously, while regulators must be prepared to take tough action if they allow the fraudsters and charlatans free-for-all to continue."

In a separate action, the Treasury Committee has written to Meta to ask it to explain its approach to finfluencers after the owner of Facebook and Instagram took up to six weeks to respond to FCA requests to take down suspect posts.

Meta said in a statement: “There was an isolated incident in late 2024 which resulted in a delay in actioning a small number of reports from the FCA. This was rectified and all other relevant reports made by the FCA have been promptly processed.”

The following regulators participated in the ‘global week of action against unlawful finfluencers’:  

• Australia, Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) 
• Canada, Alberta Securities Commission (ASC)
• Canada, Autorité des marchés financiers (QAMF)
• Canada, British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC)
• Canada, Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
• Hong Kong, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
• Italy, The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB)
• United Arab Emirates, Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA)
• United Kingdom, FCA