Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on unregulated investments. The ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 10 June 2026.
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Fortore Competitions, seen in March 2026, featured text that stated “WIN GOLD & SILVER EVERY WEEK WITH FORTORE COMPETITIONS!”. Further text stated: “The fastest growing investment competition site!” and “Win incredible collectible gold & silver every week with Fortore. Fortore gives you the chance to invest in Gold & Silver for a fraction of the price!”. Additional text at the end stated, “All certified bullion provided by Knights Bullion Stratford Upon Avon”. The ad included a video that talked about past competitions, previous winners and future competitions.Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ad:- was misleading because it did not make clear material information about the risks of the investments; and
- breached the Code because it did not make clear the value of investments was variable.
Response
Fortore Ltd said they had removed the ad. They agreed they would not use language referring to “investment” or “returns” in their ads in future.Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code required that material information should not be omitted and should be presented clearly.
The ASA understood that the physical gold and precious metals investment market was not regulated within the UK, nor was it subject to the protections afforded by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service. We considered that was material information that consumers required in order to make informed decisions about Fortore’s services.
The ad stated, “The fastest growing investment competition site!” and “Win incredible collectible gold & silver every week with Fortore. Fortore gives you the chance to invest in Gold & Silver for a fraction of the price!”. We acknowledged that by entering the competitions, consumers were not directly purchasing gold and precious metals for investment. However, they were paying for the chance to win gold and precious metal prizes that were marketed as investments. The ad therefore was for an investment product. However, the ad, which was limited by space, contained no information stating that gold and precious metal investment was unregulated. The ad linked through to the Fortore home page, which also did not contain that information.
Because the ad did not make clear that gold and precious metal investment was unregulated, and nor did the linked landing page, we concluded that it was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising).
2. Upheld
Section 14 of the CAP Code, which reflected rules prescribed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on promotional material for regulated investments, required that financial marketing communications not regulated by the FCA should make clear that the value of investments was variable and, unless guaranteed, could go down as well as up.
Given the greater potential for significant financial harm resulting from financial marketing communications, those rules were additional to and more prescriptive than the rules on misleading advertising. That meant that relevant risk warnings prescribed by section 14 of the CAP Code needed to be in the initial ad and not later in the consumer journey, for instance on a landing page, or in the terms and conditions.
We also noted that FCA guidance for regulated investments in social media stated that firms should ensure that where possible, information that was required to be prominent be displayed without needing to click through, or any other optional action, to view it.
The ad included no risk warning to make clear that the value of investments could go down as well as up. We therefore concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 14.4 (Financial products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Fortore Ltd to ensure that future marketing made clear that gold and precious metal investment was unregulated. We further told them, to make clear that the value of investments was variable and could go down as well as up.
