How do I spot a grant scam?
Short answer
Two signs settle it. A genuine UK grant is never “guaranteed” before assessment, and never requires an upfront fee to release the money. Add unsolicited contact, a demand to act immediately, and a funder you cannot find on GOV.UK, and you are looking at fraud.
Grant fraud works because searching for funding is slow and frustrating, so an offer that arrives unprompted feels like luck. It is not. Real grants are advertised publicly — on GOV.UK, on funders' own websites, and through Growth Hubs — and are competitive or assessed against criteria. Nothing is quietly "set aside" for businesses in your area.
The main patterns
- Upfront fee scams. You are told a grant has been approved but a processing fee, insurance premium or "release charge" must be paid first. No legitimate government grant works this way.
- Impersonation. Callers or emails claiming to be HMRC, Innovate UK, the British Business Bank or your council, using spoofed numbers and addresses.
- Fake databases. Subscription sites selling access to grant information that is free and public, or long out of date.
- Consultant fraud. Large upfront fees to "find and secure" grants, followed by silence.
- Identity theft. An application form harvesting your National Insurance number, bank details or Companies House authentication code.
Other red flags: a newly registered website, a free email address, spelling errors, pressure to act before an artificial deadline, and an inability to give you a verifiable direct-dial number or reference.
Verifying, and what to do if you have paid
Check the funder independently rather than through any detail in the message: search GOV.UK, the Charity Commission and the FCA register, and call the organisation on a number you found yourself — HMRC's own helpline is 0300 200 3300. Look up any grant-finding company on Companies House to see when it was incorporated and who runs it. Your local Growth Hub can usually confirm in minutes whether a business grant programme genuinely exists.
If you have already paid, act the same day. Contact your bank to report the fraud and, if you paid by card, request a chargeback. Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 for a crime reference number. Forward HMRC-branded phishing emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, and report unregistered firms offering financial services through the FCA's ScamSmart pages. Keep every message, receipt and bank record.
Charging for grant-writing help is not itself illegal, and reputable consultants do exist — they charge for defined work, sometimes with a success fee, not for access to a specific pot of money that has supposedly already been awarded to you.
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