Five convincing scams you will want to avoid

Have you ever read about victims of scams handing over their life savings and thought ‘that will never happen to me’?

Well sadly, as fraudsters become more sophisticated and more brazen, scams involving everything from holiday bookings to rip-off subscriptions feature on a Top Five Most Convincing Scams of 2024 list compiled by Which?.

But even unskilled fraudsters can create sophisticated ads seen and shared by tens of thousands on social media platforms, or mimic the websites, phone numbers and email addresses of genuine businesses. 

Along with Which?, Safe Local Trades is aiming to raise awareness of these scams.

1. Hijacked holiday bookings

Weak hotel email and booking systems are being targeted by hackers to send troublingly plausible messages to holidaymakers. 

Once they’ve gained access to the systems of hotels and B&Bs, they’re armed with guests’ contact and booking details, and can send fake messages, texts or emails.  

Which? received 40 reports of these in the first three months of 2024. 

Typically, messages claim there’s a problem with your payment, before asking you to ‘verify’ or ‘update’ your card details on phishing sites designed to look like Booking.com.

2. Fake phone and broadband providers

Here the scammers may try to convince you that you’re owed a refund, offering new equipment to fix non-existent connection issues, or entice you with offers to upgrade your package, reduce bills or claim loyalty deals. A nasty trick is to ask you to share your screen, by downloading ‘remote access’ software.

Never disclose your financial information over the phone.

3. Fake ads and rip-off subscriptions

You might be bombarded by sneaky subscriptions hidden in misleading ads. Which? reports some victims were paying as much as £50 a month to companies they had never heard of. Many have faced a battle to get a refund from their card provider, because payments appeared to be ‘authorised’.

One tactic is to place stickers of fake QR codes over genuine ones found in car parks, restaurants and posters. Malicious QR code scanner apps have also been blamed for directing users to scam advertising. 

4. Your bank account drained in minutes

Which? was the first to raise the alarm earlier this year about e-money firm Revolut and account takeover fraud (when criminals hack into financial accounts to make unauthorised transfers).

All the victims were reported to be experienced business owners, including one who lost £165,000 in an hour and another who lost £40,000 in 10 minutes. None have been reimbursed. 

The scammers created a fake email address and copycat webpage to impersonate Revolut.  

5. Investment fraud

Investment scammers stole an average of nearly £13 million per week from almost 100,000 victims in 2020-23, according to data from Action Fraud.

Sadly, many households are being drawn into bogus investments and ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes run by criminal gangs.

Which? says it regularly comes across cleverly cloned websites claiming to be regulated companies, sometimes using glossy, professional-looking brochures making false claims about enticing rates and how your money is protected.

If you are worried about a potential scam, contact https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/