Paysafe Finance

What Is This Scam?

Paysafe Finance is a fraudulent financial operation that has been actively targeting people in the United Kingdom. The scam involves criminals posing as a legitimate, FCA-regulated financial firm in order to deceive consumers into handing over money or sensitive personal information. The operation promotes itself through the website paysafefinance.online and communicates with victims via multiple email addresses, including [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. The use of free consumer email services and a recently registered website domain are hallmarks of a fraudulent clone firm rather than any legitimate financial institution. The scam likely involves unsolicited loan offers or financial product promotions designed to collect upfront fees or personal data from unsuspecting victims.

Who Are They Impersonating?

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Paysafe Finance is operating as a clone firm, meaning it is deliberately impersonating a genuine, FCA-authorised business to appear credible and trustworthy. The legitimate company being impersonated is Cobain Digital Ltd, which holds authorisation from the FCA, the UK's primary financial services regulator. Clone firms copy the identity, branding, and regulatory credentials of real authorised companies to trick consumers into believing they are dealing with a supervised and compliant organisation. Any contact received from Paysafe Finance using these details does not represent the genuine firm and should be treated with extreme caution.

Evidence & Regulatory Action

The FCA formally added Paysafe Finance to its Warning List on 6 February 2026, identifying it as an unauthorised firm cloning the details of a genuine FCA-regulated business. The official alert can be found directly on the FCA website: FCA Warning: Paysafe Finance (clone of FCA firms). The firm has also been listed on the FCA Financial Services Register as an unauthorised firm, confirming it has no legal permission to offer regulated financial products or services in the UK. Independent financial analysis platform Traders Union also flagged the operation in February 2026, corroborating the FCA's findings that this entity contacts individuals while falsely claiming a connection to a legitimate regulated firm.

Red Flags

• Officially identified as an unauthorised clone firm by the FCA as of February 2026
• Uses free Gmail and Google Groups email addresses rather than a verified corporate domain
• The scam website paysafefinance.online was only registered in May 2025, less than one year old
• The domain was registered via Hostinger, a low-cost registrar commonly used for quickly created fraudulent sites
• Unsolicited contact with promises of rapid financial products, such as loans approved almost immediately
• Falsely claims association with a legitimate FCA-authorised business to build false credibility
• No verifiable physical address, phone number, or regulatory reference number that checks out on official registers

Domain Information

The domain paysafefinance.online was registered on 24 May 2025, making it approximately 0.8 years old at the time of the FCA warning. It was registered through Hostinger Operations, UAB, a registrar based in Lithuania. The very recent creation of this domain, combined with its non-standard .online top-level extension rather than a conventional .co.uk or .com, is consistent with the short-lived websites typically set up by clone fraud operations to conduct brief campaigns before disappearing.

What To Do If You Have Been Contacted

• Do not send any money, pay any upfront fees, or provide personal or banking details to this operation under any circumstances
• Verify any firm claiming to be FCA-authorised directly via the official FCA Financial Services Register before engaging
• Report the contact to the FCA by calling 0800 111 6768 or using the online reporting tool at the FCA website
• If you have already transferred money, contact your bank immediately and request a recall of the payment — report it as fraud
• Report the scam to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040
• Warn others by sharing the FCA warning link with friends, family, or community groups who may be targeted
• Block all email addresses associated with this operation to prevent further contact