How to be Scam Safe

As part of the BBC’s Scam Safe Week, Michael provided insight and advice on some of the most common scams being carried out by fraudsters. Members of the public phoned in to share their experiences, which highlighted the scale and variety of different scams affecting individuals and companies.

Notable examples include ticketing scams, where people are sold non-existent concert and event tickets through social media marketplaces and accounts which have been created by organised criminals with the sole purpose of stealing money. 

Another common and rising scam activity involves crypto asset fraud, where ordinary retail investors are persuaded by respectable sounding “brokers” to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the promise of huge returns, which dwarf those offered by traditional savings accounts and investments. Several such “brokers” are fraudsters, who after an initial investment request more and more sums of money, often leading victims to take on huge debts on the promise of making a quick return worth millions. 

Human Cost

Fraud is far from a victimless crime. Aside from the financial cost, the human cost of fraud is often understated. Fraud can have a devastating impact on victims, their business and their families, leaving people feeling embarrassed and ashamed of being scammed out of their hard-earned savings. This damages personal relationships and can cause long-term psychological harm. 

Knowing the basics of keeping yourself safe is a start:
•    Protect your personal information (name, address, bank details, email and phone number).
•    Check the credentials of any person or organisation you don’t know before sharing any personal information. 
•    Question phone calls, texts or emails you didn’t ask for and weren’t expecting.

Business cost

There are implications for businesses as well. The costs for dealing with fraud are significant and extensive, and go well beyond the direct financial loss. They can include assessment, detection, investigation and response costs as well as potential restitution. Further costs can include programme review, audits and retrofitting or redesigning programmes. 

The market reputation of legitimate businesses can also be unfairly tarnished by the criminal activity of fraudsters, with customers refusing to provide necessary information to complete the sales process, assuming that they are being scammed.