9 million people caught out by financial scams in the past year
One in five people across the UK fell victim to a finance scam - such as a fake pension or investment opportunity - in the last year, Citizens Advice has revealed. The charity estimates 9 million people have been affected.
Showing the worrying toll these scams can take on people’s lives, over two in five of those scammed (43%) had to borrow or increase their debt in some way to get by afterwards. Almost a quarter (24%) had to turn to friends or family for financial help, while a fifth (20%) had to take on additional jobs or shifts at work.
As part of its Scams Awareness campaign, Citizens Advice wants to help people stay safe by exposing scammers’ top tactics:
The top financial scams of the last year were as follows, with some individuals surveyed having experienced more than one of these:
1. Fake debt advice via social media (estimated 3 million people affected).
A person searches for ‘debt help’ on social media but gets snared by scam accounts. These accounts offer help with personal finances, including debt solutions, then push forms to get hold of personal data.
2. Friend-in-need scams (estimated 2.5 million people affected).
A scammer poses as someone a person knows to either ask for money or ask the person to forward a 6-digit verification PIN number (which will then give access to the victim’s accounts).
3. Pension scams (estimated 2.5 million people affected).
The scammers get in touch unexpectedly to offer free pension reviews with big promises. They then move the person’s money into what are actually badly run, high risk or entirely fake investments. Some scammers will offer to help a person release funds from their pension without fully explaining the implications, or charge massive fees to do so, and then move the money into their own schemes.
4. Investment scams (estimated 2.5 million people affected).
The scammer convinces a person to move their money into a fictitious fund, or to pay for what later turns out to be a fake investment, including gold, property, carbon, cryptocurrencies or even wine.
5. Parking QR code scams (estimated 2.5 million people affected).
Stickers with bogus QR codes placed over genuine codes at car parks, directing consumers to fake payment websites where their personal and financial information is stolen.
Over three-quarters (76%) of all types of finance scams were conducted through social media sites, according to the charity’s research.
Eric’s story: “I was frantic, traumatised and couldn’t face telling my family how much I’d lost.”
Eric* came to Citizens Advice after falling victim to trading and cryptocurrency scams. He had watched an online tutorial video about a legitimate trading system, but alongside it was an advert leading to a fake platform run by scammers. The subsequent scams devastated his life, costing him his savings, home and health. He told us he’d never experienced such disastrous financial trouble like this.
He says: "After I started putting money into the ‘trading system’, I immediately got aggressive phone calls several times a day, saying: ‘You’ve got to keep trading or you’ll lose everything.’ Any requests to withdraw my money were ignored.
“It’s a very unpleasant, stressful, intensive and coercive experience. I was frantic, traumatised and couldn’t face telling my family how much I’d lost.
"I’d never experienced such disastrous financial trouble like this in the past. I’d paid off my mortgage and had a nice house, a family home. I had no clue that you could so easily lose all that almost overnight.”
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Anyone can fall victim to a scam and we know scammers aren’t only targeting those looking to invest money, but also those simply going about their day-to-day lives.
“It’s particularly worrying to see the impact on people’s finances afterwards, especially if they have to borrow to get by.
“It’s important for us all to be on our guard - if you’re not sure about something, take your time and get advice.”
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, said:
“With the cost of living still high, criminals are preying on people looking for ways to strengthen their finances or reduce their debt. Not only is their money stolen, but the effects on their health and wellbeing can be devastating.
“People should be wary of anyone offering financial advice out of the blue, particularly on social media. And we urge anyone who has been a victim of a scam to report the crime. Underreporting of scams is a major problem and we need people to come forward so we can stop these criminals in their tracks.”
John Herriman, Chief Executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said:
“CTSI is very concerned to see the number of people that are targeted every year by financial scams, whether these are fake debt, pension advice, or parking scams. The vast number of people affected by these scams shows there is an urgent need for more consumer awareness in this area. The hope is that this campaign will remove the stigma associated with being the victim of a scam and that those affected can be empowered to come forward and help to bring these criminals to task.
"By consumers reporting these scams it allows for more accurate intelligence to be collected and for emerging and growing issues to be identified early on so preventative action can be put in place. CTSI is dedicated to the work of the Consumer Protection Partnership, which strives to ensure that consumers are supported and have clear information on where to go when encountering these problems.”
There are steps you can take to better protect yourself and your loved ones. Jane Parsons, a Citizens Advice consumer expert, has some top tips to spot scams:
Be wary if it seems too good to be true – for example, a pension that yields much more than you’d expect.
You’ve been pressured to transfer money quickly.
You’ve been asked to pay in an unusual way – like using an iTunes voucher or a transfer service.
You’ve been asked to give away personal information, such as passwords, PINs or verification codes.
You spot signs that the organisation or person you are dealing with isn’t genuine - perhaps the email address doesn’t seem quite right. Always step back and double check if you have any doubts at all.
If you’ve been scammed:
Talk to your bank or card company immediately if you’ve handed over any financial and/or sensitive information, or made a payment.
Report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
You can also contact the Citizens Advice consumer service for help with what to do next.
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Notes to editors:
Savanta surveyed 2,117 consumers from across the UK aged 18 and over, with the results weighted to be nationally representative. The fieldwork was conducted over the weekend from the 23rd of August 2024 to the 26th of August 2024. The findings indicate that just under one in five (18%) of UK adults reported experiencing at least one of these financial scams over the past 12 months. Based upon the population estimates for the UK from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: Mid-2022, published by ONS in Mar 2024 (total adult UK population estimated at 50,168, 285), data was extrapolated to give estimates of population level figures.
Scams Awareness is a campaign aiming to: give people skills to identify scams; encourage people to share their experiences with scams; help people gain the confidence to report scams. The campaign is led by Citizens Advice in collaboration with the Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP).
Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
Citizens Advice helped 2.66 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2022-23. And we had 60.6 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 16,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,600 service outlets across England and Wales.
You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.