Scammers are continuing to use convincing tactics to steal personal and financial information, including social media, emails, phone calls, and artificial intelligence (AI). We want to help you stay safe from a growing number of scams, some of which can be quite sophisticated, so here are the latest key scams to watch out for and how to protect yourself.

Key scams to watch out for and how to protect yourself:

Investment scams. Scammers make promises of guaranteed, or doubled, returns (often using AI or cryptocurrency as a hook) if you pay directly to their address.
Protect yourself: never share personal or financial details in response to unsolicited messages and don’t click on any links in the suspicious email.

Impersonation scams. Scammers pretend to be from a trusted source, such as your bank, HMRC, or delivery companies. They might use a fake payment attempt to lure you to a phishing site, automated messages to threaten you, or sending fake links so as to steal information.
Protect yourself: never trust unexpected calls or messages. Verify any unexpected contact using official websites or numbers (not any contact details included in the message).

AI scams. Deepfakes and cloned voices are increasingly being used to create fake content, including fake images and videos; this is making scams more convincing and difficult to detect.
Protect yourself: never give out passwords, passcodes, or bank details to anyone who contacts you out of the blue. Even if you think you know the person, take a moment to check particularly if they’re asking you for money or personal information.

Delivery scams. Fake texts or emails claim delivery issues and prompt you to click a malicious link.
Protect yourself: don’t click on links in unsolicited texts or emails as they can lead to fake websites designed to steal your information.

Social media job scams. Unsolicited offers of easy money for liking or sharing content, asking for upfront fees for training or to earn more, are all red flags.
Protect yourself: never pay upfront fees for jobs or services – genuine offers will not ask for money.

NHS and Covid-19 vaccine fraud. Scammers use convincing looking texts – or even phone people directly – posing as the NHS or your local pharmacy offering vaccines.
Protect yourself: remember, the vaccine is free so the NHS will never ask for payment, bank details, personal documents. They will also never arrive unannounced at your home to administer the vaccine.

Always report anything suspicious to the relevant authorities:

For suspicious emails, texts or emails: report@phishing.gov.uk or forward the text to 7726

For fraud or identify theft and cybercrime: use the online reporting tool actionfraud.police.uk or call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040

For vaccine fraud: if you have any information relating to vaccine fraud go to cfa.nhs.uk for further guidance.
For unsolicited contact from financial firms – check the FCA register for legitimate contact details and report cloned firms.