Cost of living money scams – how to protect yourself

When it comes to scams, fraudsters will use whatever methods they can to gain access to your money. And as we've seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, scammers are using the current cost of living crisis to their advantage, by targeting people eager to save cash, earn extra money on their investments, or claim help that they’re entitled to.

In this article, we look at some common ways criminals will try to access your personal details and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

Criminals will often use ‘phishing’ emails to trick people into revealing information about themselves and then use that ill-gotten information to steal money.

The theft of information is often done by clicking on a fraudulent link within a message to gain access to personal information, such as account details or passwords, that criminals can then use for their own financial gain. These messages look and sound like they’re legitimate, but must be approached with extreme caution.

In the case of the cost of living crisis, scam messages may also suggest that financial measures being offered by the government to help those struggling, such as energy rebates or cost of living payments, have to be ‘claimed’ by completing a bogus application form – when many of these financial payments will actually be applied automatically.

Keeping you safe from fraud is something we take very seriously. That’s why we’ve signed up to Take Five, the UK anti-fraud initiative to help prevent email, phone and online fraud – particularly where criminals try to impersonate trusted organisations.

The Take Five campaign encourages everyone to Stop, Challenge and Protect. This means that when faced with an email, suspicious phone call or text, you do the following:

Stop: Take a moment to stop and think about what you’re hearing or seeing. A trusted organisation won’t pressure you to act fast or ask for sensitive personal information over the phone, by email, or text.  

Challenge: It’s ok to question what you’re seeing or hearing. Ask yourself: Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests to answer questions or supply information. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

Protect: Contact your bank or financial service provider immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud (the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre) at actionfraud.police.uk/.

You can find out more, including a quiz to check whether you can spot fraud, on the Take Five website takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/.

With the rising cost of living, Take Five is warning of four key scams to be on the lookout for:

Scammers will often project an element of fear into their messages, suggesting that if you don’t act quickly you’ll be at risk of significant financial loss, or that a ‘bargain’ deal will no longer be available. But remember, if it is a genuine request, no one will mind you being cautious – only a scammer will try to put pressure on you to act before you’re ready.

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, please contact your provider. You can also report it to Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

You can find more information and tips from Take Five at https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

You can find out more about phishing emails, bogus websites and current HMRC scams at https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing