More than one in four scammed adults felt embarrassed at being caught out

SWNS

More than one in four scammed adults felt embarrassed at being caught out – with many keeping their misfortunes quiet as a result.  Others felt angry (61 per cent), upset (37 per cent) and ashamed (20 per cent) after they were defrauded.  The poll of 2,000 people found that of those who have been targeted by scammers, nearly half have had their money stolen over the last year - leaving those who have been duped out of pocket by an average of £481.  Marketplace scams, with fraudulent items put up for sale, and impersonation scams – someone pretending to be someone they’re not – are the most commonly seen schemes.  To raise awareness about scams and ensure people are prepared to protect themselves, international money app Wise has partnered with We Fight Fraud to launch the 'Scam Safe Space', where people can talk openly about their experience of scammers and scams, without judgement.    Dr Nicola Harding said: “And let’s keep social media social - keep to regulated places which have consumer protections.”

Transcript

00:00I was scammed by a modeling agency. I was scammed out of just over two and a half thousand. Yeah he'd

00:12taken everything. So today we've teamed up with Wise to invite people who've experienced fraud

00:20and scams to open up about their experiences to reduce the shame that's attached with being

00:26a victim of fraud in our scam safe space. Yeah let me let you in. I was in a financially

00:38abusive relationship and he took all my money. It was really damaging and I've never trusted

00:44anybody since. Two weeks ago I made some transactions and one of them I didn't recognise. Thankfully

00:52I checked my account thoroughly and had I not I'd have been scammed out of 200 quid. They took a lot

00:57of money off me as a deposit in exchange for a 12 month contract. They totally fell off the face

01:03of the earth and it turns out it's a really elaborate scam. The owner of the flat told us well if you

01:07pay me directly you can save the fee. So we did we paid him or them and we never heard from them

01:14again we didn't get the flat. I thought well this is a good opportunity I need the extra money I'm

01:17just going to go for it but now I'm like no you were really pressuring me into that. So some common

01:23red flags to look out for are time pressure. Fraudsters are going to put you under time pressure to make

01:29you act quickly before you've had a chance to think. Unsolicited contact. You need to think who was it

01:35who made the first call? Are you expecting this message or phone call? Let's keep social media social.

01:42Don't use it to buy and sell goods. Keep to regulated places that are official and have consumer

01:47protections. Always check your account make sure that every transaction you know what it is. If

01:53you're unsure ring your bank and ask them. Speak openly if your instincts are telling you something

01:58isn't right there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Why should anyone feel embarrassed

02:04for just putting their trust in someone? The more we can hear about people's stories and the nuances of how

02:09these scams are operating the more we can arm ourselves and protect ourselves and be informed

02:15so that the scammers don't have as much chance in the future. There's no shame in falling victim to

02:21fraud but we can protect ourselves if we talk about it share the red flags and protect each other.

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