Martin Lewis: How to teach yourself scam self-defence

A scam is simply a fraudulent scheme that dupes people into parting with their cash and/or personal details. Sadly I’ve been personally engaged in this world over the last year, as my image has been used across social media and online advertising, to try to dupe vulnerable people. I’m fighting it as hard as I can (see why I’m suing Facebook and beware fake MSE ads blogs).

Yet there’ll always be scum who try to rip you off. So here are my six scam self-defence rules and how to detect if you’ve already been scammed…

Six scam self-defence rules

1. Never give personal details if they text or email. The classic scam is fraudsters sending messages asking for your details to break into your accounts, claiming to be from a bank, insurer, HMRC, me, or even the police. This falls into two camps:

a) Phishing (a more geek spelling of 'fishing'). This is a scam email from a sender purporting to be from a company they hope you have a connection with, eg, your bank saying something like "your bank security is broken, click here" or "we need your help to retrieve funds".

It’ll then take you through to a professional-looking website – often a mirror image of the real thing, and it’ll ask you to put your password or personal details in.

Never, ever, EVER click a link in an unexpected email or open an attachment unless you're 100% sure of its contents (and sadly any ‘tax rebate’ email from HMRC is a fake; it never emails these).

b) Smishing (ie, SMS-phishing). Like phishing but by text, not email. What’s tricky here is deciding whether it is just spam or a scam. If it is spam – in other words a legit company sending sales messages – it should allow you to text back to stop future messages. More help on stopping spam texts, phone calls and door-knockers in our Stop Spam guide.

Yet if it’s a scammer, texting back isn’t a good idea as you’re just validating that they’ve texted a legit phone number, so you could get more sent to you – and of course never call them. If unsure, play safe and delete it.

2. Beware fake dialling tones when you call them back. Vishing (voice-phishing over the phone) is a growing issue. Callers can pretend to be from banks, insurers, police, HMRC, utility providers and more, all asking for passwords or personal details. Don’t give them. Legit companies won’t ever ask.

Ironically they could even purport to be scam protection calls with patter such as “there are lots of untrustworthy people out there, we need to call to protect you, it’s a horrid world”.

So if it’s an unexpected call ALWAYS say you’ll call them back. If it is legit, they won’t mind. And don’t call the number they give you – go and find that institution’s official number.

Even that may not be enough protection though. An increasingly common trick is where they call, and tell you to call back. However, when you hang up they don’t, and instead just play a dial tone, tricking you into thinking it’s a new call, but they answer.

If you’ve any suspicions, as well as finding the right number to call back, take one of three precautions…

- Call from another phone.
- If using the same phone, call a friend first – if ‘the bank’ answers, you know they’ve spoofed a dial tone.
- Wait a decent time before calling.

3. Know the scammers’ tells. In poker a ‘tell’ is how you judge when someone is bluffing. Similar tells apply to cold calls from scammers, including…

- Anyone rushing you. You never need to make a decision straightaway (even if not a scam at best it’s usually dodgy sales patter).
- Anyone asking you to pay in an unusual way (such as vouchers).
- Poor grammar or dodgy spelling in emails, or emails opening with “Dear sir or madam”.
- If someone you’ve never met asks you to send money.
- Job adverts that ask for money in advance.
- Unsolicited calls to help you fix your computer (genuine computer firms don’t do that) and generally I’m not in favour of any cold calling anyway, even if legit.
- Facebook ads for cryptocurrencies. It’s banned those ads, so if they get through they’re not legit.

4. Don't fall for fake deals on WhatsApp, Facebook & other social media. Many bogus offers pop up in people’s feeds and messages, eg, Alton Towers and Ryanair giving away free tickets on WhatsApp.

The key here is to know the source. Is the person giving you the information trustworthy, and are you certain it really is that person? Go to where you know it’s legit and look for the same offer.  

Yet even if you think you’re reading an article from The Times, the Mirror or even MoneySavingExpert.com – think about whether you went direct or clicked a link. If the latter, it may be a spoof.