Be Scam Aware
- Anyone can fall victim to a scam. People of all ages and backgrounds get scammed.
- It’s important to be on your guard – if you’re not sure about something, take your time and get advice. Remember:
- Does it seem too good to be true?
- Do you know the person contacting you?
- Are you being pressured to respond quickly? You’re being urged to respond quickly so you don’t get time to think about it or talk to family and friends
- Have you been asked to pay for something urgently or in an unusual way?
- Don’t be rushed to sign up to financial opportunities, even if you think you might miss out on a good deal
- Do not provide personal details or bank details straight away.
Key Citizens Advice statistics
- One in five people across the UK fell victim to a finance scam – such as a fake pension or investment opportunity – in the last year. That equates to 9 million people
- Two in five of those scammed (43%) had to borrow in some way to get by afterwards
- The top financial scams we’ve seen in the last year included fake debt advice via social media, where scammers pose as people giving free money advice and then use forms to harvest your personal details. We’ve also seen a lot of people fall for fake investment or pension opportunities – essentially scammers getting you to move your money into their own high risk, low value ventures- or just stealing your money outright.
Scams are crimes that can happen to anyone. We can all take a stand to help stop them
