Scams

Consumers wanting to avoid financial fraud now have a secure and easy-to-remember phone number to contact their banks on in order to avoid painful scams. It could prove to be the safest way for many to contact their provider if they have suspicions and concerns about their accounts, or even if they're struggling to find a customer services number. 

Certain financial services providers will have to verify that they are authorised by the FCA before advertising on Google from 6 September, in an effort to tackle online fraud. But the new policy doesn't apply to ads for cryptocurrency or debt services, which are already subject to other policies, and there are some other exclusions. 

A new Online Safety Bill has been announced by the Government in the Queen’s speech today for the opening of Parliament. It promises to ‘lead the way in ensuring internet safety for all’ – but according to MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis, it has stumbled at the first hurdle as it does not plan to protect people from scam and fraudulent ads.

MoneySavingExpert.com and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, which were both founded by Martin Lewis, are among 17 organisations today calling for the Government to use its new Online Safety Bill to help protect people from an avalanche of online scams.

The financial regulator has warned consumers to beware of fraudulent emails from scammers pretending to be MoneySavingExpert.com or our founder Martin Lewis, after identifying a copycat firm falsely using our name. 

Mental health sufferers are three times more likely to fall victim to online scams, while the coronavirus pandemic has made the threat worse - and now campaigners are calling on the Government to act.

PayPal customers encouraged by sellers to make payments via its 'friends and family' option instead of 'goods and services' are unnecessarily leaving themselves without payment protection – and some are even losing cash.

Virgin Media has apologised after a database containing personal details of 900,000 customers was accessed without permission due to being "incorrectly configured".

Some customers of credit history-building tool Loqbox have had personal and financial data compromised after the firm was hit by a "sophisticated and complex" cyber attack.

A temporary funding arrangement for a scheme that reimburses people who are tricked into transferring money to fraudsters will be extended until the end of the year.