Many years ago it used to be emails from Nigerian princes asking for help in extracting $50 million from their country. All the needed was details of your bank account and in return they would share some of the money with you. They were usually full of spelling mistakes and grammatically inaccurate. Most of us noticed the scam and simply laughed about the stupidity of the scammer (although some people must have been caught or the scammers wouldn’t bother sending the messages).

Today, scamming has become much more sophisticated meaning that we must constantly be alert to potential criminal activity to ensure we do not become a victim. Last year estimates suggest that at least £2.5 billion was lost to scammers.

“Let’s be clear, these fraudsters are not cheeky chancers, they are organised, ruthless criminals using
sophisticated techniques to trick people out of their personal or financial information”

Katy Worobec – Managing Director, Economic Crime UK Finance

Scammers are using technology and psychology to get at our money. The pandemic has resulted in more people working from home, greater use of the Internet and home delivery services. Scammers have developed more sophisticated text and email (smishing and phishing scams) techniques to defraud us or, at the very least, access our financial information for future frauds.

Another serious development is the use of computer software that allows the scammer to remotely access your computer. This software is widely available as diagnostic tools to enable computer engineers to access a computer remotely to identify and resolve problems. But in the wrong hands it allows the scammer to view everything on your computer and to physically take over your machine.

According to Action Fraud, more than £50 million was lost last year from Remote Access Tool Frauds. They received reports from 20,144 victims.

But in addition to technology the modern scammers are using psychological techniques to trick us into falling for their cons. Here are some that they use:

Time pressure – “you need to take action now or you will lose out.”

Authority bias – a call from a police officer or government official demanding or encouraging action.

Illusions of scarcity – “we only have one left.” Hotel website’s use this, hopefully legitimately to advise that they only have two rooms left.

The heard principle – a need to be like others – positive feedback on a website whether genuine or not – may encourage commitment to a scam

Our innate dishonesty – even honest people may be tempted by what some scammers are offering.

Whilst the detail of the scam may vary it usually follows one or more of the psychological tricks. A police officer calling about a bank fraud, the need to act quickly to avoid loss. Even though we think we will be aware of a scam sometimes we still might get sucked in.

One recent example we heard about was a call from Amazon about a Prime subscription charged in error. The scammer asks the victim to download some code so he can trace the payment and arrange a refund. Once the code was downloaded, he had access to the victim’s bank account. He then “helped” the victim process the refund of £79.99 but “in error” the victim entered the amount as £7999 so the scammer asked the victim to refund the overpayment. Simple – provided there is enough money in the victim’s account.


So, how do we protect ourselves from being scammed? Of vital importance is to ensure that you use secure passwords when accessing online accounts. Do not use the same password across other accounts and ensure the passwords are not easily guessed. If you use social media take care what information you share with the world. Consider using password manager software to store and protect confidential information.

To protect against scammers contacting you, follow the “Take Five” guidelines promoted by UK Finance. The tenant of this advice is “Stop and Think” – “Take Five” before making any decisions. Don’t disclose security information, don’t accept that a call, text, or email is genuine, and don’t be rushed. Ensure you listen to your instincts and stay in control. If you feel something is not right, contact the organisation on a different telephone line to check. A genuine contact will have no problem with that, but a genuine organisation is not likely to contact you out of the blue in any case.

Here are some more disturbing statistics from Action Fraud:

• Ticket fraudsters duped victims out of almost £4 million in the last year, as music and entertainment
lovers bought tickets for festivals and events online as coronavirus restrictions eased.

• Family members of online daters are being urged to help protect their relatives from becoming a victim of
romance fraud, as new figures show almost £92 million has been lost through dating scams this year alone.

• Donations to non-existent charities and the fraudulent collection of funds from genuine charities is increasing.
Action Fraud’s data shows that the £1.6m loss to fraud is up by 16% on the figure reported in the previous
year.

• Business Email Compromise or Mandate Fraud, involves criminals impersonating others, creating, or
amending invoices and diverting payments to bank accounts under their own control. This can target both
businesses and individuals. In the year to September 2021 there have been 4,600 cases reported to Action
Fraud, with individual losses averaging around £30,000.

Scamming occurs across all industries and communities. The perpetrators are also becoming more sophisticated in their tactics and, however savvy aware you may feel you are; we are all at risk.

Take care and trust no one! But if you have any concerns or do get caught, report it to Action Fraud or call  on 0300 123 2040 or 999 if in immediate danger.