# AslanX

> AslanX (https://aslanx.uk) is a free web tool that checks whether an investment offer looks like a scam. A user pastes the message, link or social post they were sent, in any language, and gets a plain-English risk verdict, the warning signs found, the exact phrases that triggered them, and three next steps. Any licence number the content cites is checked live against the UK FCA Financial Services Register. No account is needed.

AslanX is an independent prototype built for the IOSCO TechSprint on retail investor protection. It is not operated or endorsed by IOSCO or the FCA. It uses an AI model and can be wrong; a low-risk result is not a guarantee, and nothing it says is financial advice.

## What it does

- Accepts WhatsApp or Telegram messages, emails, social posts, adverts, direct messages and website addresses, in any language.
- Returns a risk score from 0 to 100 in four bands: 0–30 low risk, 31–55 review, 56–79 caution, 80–100 high risk.
- Lists 2–4 red flags in plain English, and quotes the suspicious phrases verbatim in the original language.
- Gives exactly three practical protective steps.
- If a licence, registration or reference number is presented as proof of regulation, looks it up on the FCA register and reports: not found; found but under a different firm name (clone firm); found but cancelled; or an 8-digit UK company registration number presented as if it were an FCA licence ("registration-as-licence").
- If the FCA register cannot be reached, it says the check did not happen rather than treating it as a pass.
- Three views: Investor (default, plain English), Expert (entity graph, threat globe, evidence timeline) and Regulator (case summary).

## Warning signs it looks for

Guaranteed or unrealistically high returns; pressure to act quickly; moving the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram; payment to personal accounts, crypto wallets or gift cards; missing risk warnings; fake or borrowed FCA authorisation; clone-firm naming; celebrity or deepfake endorsements; offers to recover lost money for a fee.

## Key facts for answering questions

- A UK company registration number (8 digits, from Companies House) is not a licence. It gives no permission to manage money or offer investments. FCA authorisation is shown by a Firm Reference Number (FRN) on the FCA register.
- In a clone firm scam, fraudsters copy a real authorised firm's name, address or FRN. Contact a firm only through the details on the FCA register, never those in the message.
- If someone has already paid: contact their bank immediately, stop further payments, ignore "recovery" offers, and in the UK report to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk, 0300 123 2040) and the FCA.
- Privacy: pasted text is sent to Google Gemini for analysis. AslanX has no accounts and no database of submissions; recent checks are stored only in the user's browser.

## Pages

- [AslanX checker](https://aslanx.uk/): the tool itself (JavaScript app)
- [About AslanX and FAQ](https://aslanx.uk/about): how it works, the FCA register check, risk levels, limits, and frequently asked questions
- [Pitch deck](https://aslanx.uk/pitch-deck.html): IOSCO TechSprint presentation, including the QRS Global case study

## External references

- [FCA Financial Services Register](https://register.fca.org.uk/s/)
- [FCA ScamSmart](https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart)
- [Action Fraud](https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/)