Stay one step ahead

The scam:

Criminals convince people to invest their money in commodities such as property, gold or cryptocurrencies, which turn out to be non-existent or worthless.

Scammers draw people in by:

• Approaching people directly by phone, email or private message to offer an investment opportunity.
• Placing advertisements on social media and websites.
• Using celebrity images or the name and logo of a genuine company to make their advertisement look legitimate.
• Placing sponsored links at the top of search results to attract people to their websites.

Criminals watch genuine investment trends and copy them to attract a higher number of victims. A good example of this is the increased popularity of cryptocurrencies. This has led to an increase in fraudsters posing as cryptocurrency traders and offering to help people invest in cryptocurrency.

How to spot an investment scam:

• Someone contacts you out of the blue to offer an investment opportunity, either by phone, text, email or private message.
• You are put under pressure to make a quick decision about an investment.
• Someone offers to invest in cryptocurrency on your behalf. Genuine cryptocurrency providers keep your money in an online wallet, which only you should have access to.
• Company names or logos appear similar to well-known companies, possibly with a small variation.

Stay one step ahead

• Be ScamSmart: the FCA’s ScamSmart service is a free and helpful tool that anyone can use to check if an investment is genuine.
• Check it out: you can check whether you’re dealing with a genuine company by viewing their details on the FCA’s Financial Services Register.
• Take your time: remember that you can take as long as you need to consider or research an investment opportunity. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
• Seek advice: if you’re thinking of making an investment, consider getting professional independent advice from a genuine company.
• Stay in control: don’t allow anyone to remotely access your computer, phone or other devices.
• Remember: if something sounds too good be true, it’s probably a scam.
• Report it: if you think you may have fallen victim to a scam, call your bank or building society straight away and make a report to Action Fraud.

The scam:

You’re convinced to make a payment or give personal and financial details to someone claiming to be from an organisation you trust. This could include the police, your bank, a delivery or utility company, communication service provider or a government department such as HMRC or the DVLA.

These scams often begin with a phone call, text or email that appears to be from a trusted organisation. Criminals can use a tactic called ‘spoofing’ to make their call or text appear genuine by cloning the number or sender ID which is displayed on your phone. In some cases, criminals even trick you by sending couriers to collect your cards, PINs or valuable items in person.

Recently, criminals have also started using WhatsApp and other social media to contact people, pretending to be their friend or relative and asking them to send money. If you receive a text from someone asking for money, stop and think. If you can’t speak to them in person, it could be a scam.

How to spot an impersonation scam:

1. You receive a call, text, email or social media message with an urgent request for your personal or financial information, to make a payment or move money
2. You’re asked to act immediately, sometimes with the claim that ‘your money is at risk’, ‘your account will be blocked’ or ‘there are suspicious transactions on your account’. If you don’t act immediately you may be threatened with arrest or the prospect of losing all your money
3. The caller asks you to transfer money to another account for ‘safe-keeping’ or for you to buy high value goods/vouchers to cover the cost of fines
4. The sender’s email address is ever so slightly different to that of the genuine sender

Stay one step ahead:

The scam:

You’re convinced to make a payment to a person you’ve met either through social media platforms, dating websites and apps or gaming sites. Fake profiles are used by criminals in an attempt to build a relationship with you – this is also often known as catfishing. Criminals use information found on social media to create fake identities to target you with a scam, looking for profiles that say you’re ‘widowed’ or ‘divorced’.

They often go to great lengths to gain your trust and convince you that you’re in a genuine relationship before appealing to your compassionate side to ask for money. Criminals will use language to manipulate, persuade and exploit so that requests for money do not raise alarm bells. These requests might be highly emotive, such as criminals claiming they need money for emergency medical care, or to pay for transport costs to visit you if they are overseas.

How to spot a romance scam:

1. You’ve met someone online and they declare strong feelings for you after a few conversations
2. They suggest moving the conversation away from the dating website or social media to a more private channel such as email, phone or instant messaging
3. Their profile on the internet dating website or their social media page isn’t consistent with what they tell you
4. There are spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies in their stories and they make claims such as their camera isn’t working
5. They refuse to video call/meet you in person
6. Photos generally tend to be stolen from other people
7. You’re asked to send money to someone you have not met face-to-face, either through bank/money transfer or through the purchase of gift cards or presents such as phones and laptops. You may even be asked to provide them with access to your bank account or card
8. Upon questioning your friend or family member, they may become very secretive about their relationship or provide excuses for why their online partner has not video called or met them in person. They might become hostile or angry, and withdraw from conversation when you ask any questions about their partner

Stay one step ahead:

• Avoid sending money to someone you’ve never met in person, particularly if you have only recently met online.
• Research the person you’re talking to, as profile photos may not be genuine. You can do this by uploading a picture of the person you’re talking to into your search engine to check that profile photos are not associated with another name. Performing a reverse image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere, or someone, else. 
• Be alert to spelling and grammar mistakes and inconsistencies in stories.
• Stay on the dating site’s messaging service until you’re confident the person is who they say they are and meetings in person take place in a public place.
• Always consider the possibility of a scam.
• Only accept friend requests from people you know and trust.
• Speak to your family or friends to get advice.

The scam:

A fraudster creates a fake QR code to take you to a fraudulent website. On the fraudulent website you are encouraged to enter information that they can use to steal your identity or to defraud you. For instance they may ask you for personal information, or your bank account login or credit card details.

Stay one step ahead:

• Before scanning a QR code in an email or letter make sure you trust the organisation that’s sent it to you and you have an idea where the code is taking you to. If in any doubt, don’t enter any personal information.
• If a QR code on a poster, advert or leaflet looks to have been tampered with, or stuck on over the top of an original one, do not scan it. 
• If you have visited a website you think is suspicious, you can report it to the National Cyber Security Centre. 

The scam:

A cold-caller may offer you a service you don’t really need. They may claim to have noticed something about your property that needs work or improvement, such as the roof, and offer to fix it for cash or an inflated price

How to spot a doorstep scam:

1. Someone knocks on your door that you weren’t expecting warning that there’s a problem with your roof or driveway that needs to be fixed without delay
2. You’re asked to make a payment upfront for work to be carried out
3. You’re convinced to go to your bank branch and withdraw money whilst they set up
4. Additional problems are identified for which additional money is needed immediately

Stay one step ahead:

• Never disclose your PIN or let anyone persuade you to hand over your bank card, financial information or withdraw cash
• Don’t feel pressured. Don’t agree to hand over money at the door. Take time to think about it and talk to someone you trust.
• Only let someone in if you’re expecting them or they’re a trusted friend, family member or professional. Don’t feel embarrassed about turning someone away.
• Check their credentials. You should always check someone’s credentials -a genuine person won’t mind. You can phone the company they represent or check online, but never use contact details they give you.
• Take the time to think about any offer, even if it’s genuine. Don’t be embarrassed to say no or ask them to leave.
• Call 999 if you feel threatened or in danger. Call the police non-emergency number 101 to report an incident if you’re not in immediate danger.

The scam:

Also known as an advance fee scam, this is when you’re convinced to pay an upfront fee in order to receive a prize/service, high value goods or loans which never materialise.

How to spot a payment in advance scam:

1. You’re asked to pay an upfront fee to receive money, a prize/service or goods that you weren’t expecting
2. You’re asked to pay an upfront fee for a training programme or background check for a job that may not exist
3. You’re told that the fee is fully refundable and will be used as a deposit or an administrative charge
4. There are follow-up fees you need to pay in order to secure the loan, prize/service or goods
5. You are put under pressure to pay quickly by wire, bank transfer or cryptocurrency
6. The domain name doesn’t match that of the sender of the email e.g. gov.uk

Stay one step ahead:

The scam:

The increase in online shopping has provided criminals with an new opportunity to trick people into paying for goods and services that don’t exist, often advertised via auction sites or social media with images taken from genuine sellers’ to convince you they’re the real deal. Criminals also use cloned websites with slight changes to the URL to trick you into thinking you’re purchasing from a genuine website. They may also ask for payment prior to delivery and send you fake receipts and invoices that appear to be from the payment provider.

Scams include buyers paying deposits for pets that don’t exist, DIY purchases and electronic devices such as games consoles to name a few.

How to spot a potential purchase scam:

1. You’re offered a heavily discounted or considerably cheaper service or product compared to the original genuine worth. The deal sounds too good to be true.
2. You’re asked to pay by bank transfer instead of using the online platform’s secure payment options
3. You receive a fake email receipt/invoice that appears to be from the website you’ve purchased from or the payment service used to make your purchase – the email address domain doesn’t match that of the genuine senders.
4. The website that you’re purchasing from was only launched days/weeks ago

Stay one step ahead:

The scam:

Invoice or mandate scams happen when criminals pose as your builder, solicitor, tradesperson or someone from a trusted organisation and provide you with new or amended bank account details. You’re then tricked into sending money to the account, which is controlled by them.

These scams often involve a criminal intercepting emails, gaining access to your supplier’s email account or pretending to be from them (also known as spoofing).

How to spot an invoice and mandate scam:

1. You receive new bank details from an existing service provider (such as a builder, solicitor or other tradesperson) that are different to the account details you hold
2. You receive duplicate or more frequent invoices for a product or service than the genuine service provider normally sends

Stay one step ahead:

• Confirm service provider bank details directly with the company before payment is made
• When paying someone for the first time, transfer a small amount first and check payment has been received directly by the company
• Where possible, send confirmation of payment to service providers once their invoice has been paid
• Always question changes in payment information. Companies rarely change their bank details
• Be careful what you share on social media as criminals may target you if they know the next step is a large financial transaction

The scam:

From fake caravan or motorhome listings to “too good to be true” offers for holidays, villa rentals and holiday lets, criminals use a variety of methods to trick us into handing over our money and information.

Holiday cancellation refund scams

Having your flights or holidays cancelled by flight operators and travel companies can be stressful, even more so when you’re seeking a refund. Criminals use these opportunities to defraud people in a number of ways, including via phishing emails, ‘spoofed’ calls or social media posts or ads.

Holiday booking scams

Whether you’re booking that dream holiday or just a short break, make sure you do lots of research into your accommodation, flights or the package that you’re hoping to book to ensure it’s genuine. Criminals often set up fake websites offering ‘cheap travel deals’ which are used to obtain your money and information. Websites may look like that of genuine organisations but subtle changes in the URL can indicate that it’s fraudulent. You may also be directed away from secure payment channels to ‘avoid missing a booking’ to pay via bank transfer or through fake payment pages. The tickets advertised may be fake or not exist.

You may also receive phishing emails advertising “too good to be true” offers or prices for package holidays or flights. When the link contained is clicked, you’re directed to a fake website designed to obtain your personal and financial information.

Stay one step ahead: