How do you verify an investment advertisement before you follow it?

Leave the advertisement before you check it

An investment ad is not the place to verify itself. Do not use its link, phone number, QR code, review panel or chat as evidence. Record the promoted name, claimed legal entity, Australian Financial Services licence number, website and contact details, then open ASIC and Scamwatch through addresses you obtained independently.

ASIC Moneysmart says to stop, check and protect before investing. Scamwatch warns that convincing marketing, fake celebrity or news material and fabricated account growth are common patterns. This article is educational, recommends no investment or provider, is not personalised financial advice and receives no commission from the official links below.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest · National Anti-Scam Centre Scamwatch — Investment scams

Build an identity record outside the ad

Search the professional register for the exact legal name and licence number, not merely a similar trading name. Compare the licence status, authorised services, business address, website and phone number with what the ad claims. Then initiate contact using details from the register or the organisation's independently found official site—not details supplied in the offer.

A copied licence number can belong to a real business while the person contacting you is an impersonator. A close name match is therefore not enough. Stop if the entity, number, domain or contact route does not align exactly, and ask the real organisation whether the promotion is theirs.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest

Treat a licence as a boundary, not approval

ASIC says an AFS licence does not mean it endorses the licensee or guarantees an investment is safe. The useful question is narrower: does the named entity hold the licence it claims, and does the authorisation cover the service being promoted? Keep that register result separate from your assessment of the investment itself.

Also search Moneysmart's Investor Alert List and available warnings. Absence from a warning list does not prove legitimacy; it simply means that check found no listed match at that moment. Record the date and search terms so the result can be repeated.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest

Run a claim-to-evidence checklist

Translate each persuasive claim into evidence you can verify independently. Pressure to act now, unusually high returns with little or no risk, celebrity endorsement, testimonials and an adviser who says no licence is needed are stop signals identified by official guidance—not shortcuts around the checks.

Do not count a polished site, a dashboard showing gains or a small successful withdrawal as proof. Scamwatch says scammers may show fake account growth and may allow a small withdrawal before later blocking access or demanding more money.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest · National Anti-Scam Centre Scamwatch — Investment scams

Make the counter-check that changes the decision

Suppose the ad uses the name and licence number of a real firm. The first register search appears to pass. You then call the phone number shown on the register and the real firm says the advertised domain and promotion are not theirs. The decision changes from “continue reviewing” to “stop and report” because identity continuity failed, even though the copied licence number was real.

The reverse is also important: an exact identity match does not establish that the product suits you or will perform. It only removes one fraud warning. Read the disclosure documents, understand how returns and losses arise, and seek appropriately qualified help if the decision requires personal advice.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest · National Anti-Scam Centre Scamwatch — Investment scams

Preserve evidence and use official reporting routes

Before closing the ad, save the URL, account or page name, date, screenshots, claimed entity and licence number. Do not keep engaging merely to collect more evidence, and do not send identity documents, passwords, authentication codes or money while a check is unresolved.

Your next step is to complete the five-field identity record and one independent callback. If any field fails, stop contact and use the reporting instructions on Scamwatch and ASIC's official pages. Recheck both sources by 27 October 2026 because warning entries, register details and reporting routes can change.

Source: ASIC Moneysmart — Check before you invest · National Anti-Scam Centre Scamwatch — Investment scams

Changes to this guide

27 September 2026: First publication after ASIC and National Anti-Scam Centre review, copied-licence counterexample, scope audit and cross-network originality screening.