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Asked to pay a fee to withdraw

The title is a search. No page that was opened used those words. This page is the closest account of a fee.

Information, not advice. A clean result does not make anything a good investment.

A fee

None of those pages uses the phrase pay a fee to withdraw.

After a fraud, or after an investment that failed, someone may offer to get the money back if you pay a fee first. The charge may be called a tax, a solicitor's fee, or an admin fee. If you are asked to pay, or to hand over a bank account, a card or other financial details, end the contact. Do not pay, and do not hand the details over.

A later message may offer to get the money back, or to buy the holding back, once you pay a fee. That is the same kind of approach.

Technical detail

The upfront fee is the recovery-room account. The offer to buy the holding back is on the crypto investment scams page. The protect-yourself page uses the same example and calls it a recovery room scam.

Where to report or ask

If you are worried about a possible fraud, or think someone has contacted you to defraud you, report it to the FCA on 0800 111 6768 or through its contact form.

If the matter is outside what the FCA regulates, or you have lost money, contact Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or on the website the FCA links.

Check the firm on the Firm Checker. The firm reference number and the contact details you were given should match. If the Checker has no contact details, or the firm says they are out of date, call 0800 111 6768. Use the address on the Checker, not a link in an email or on a company website.

  • Source: Recovery room scams, Financial Conduct Authority (first published 4 Dec 2019) · read 26 Oct 2026
  • Source: Report a scam, Financial Conduct Authority (first published 5 Mar 2020) · read 26 Oct 2026
  • Source: Protect yourself from scams, Financial Conduct Authority (first published 8 Aug 2017) · read 26 Oct 2026
Technical detail

Action Fraud was renamed Report Fraud. Report Fraud's own site returned HTTP 403, so it is not quoted.