Top tips to help you avoid falling victim to financial fraud and scams in 2025
Financial criminals are deploying increasingly sophisticated techniques to trick you into parting with your money. And they succeed more often than you may think.
In fact, according to data revealed by Barclays, over the course of 2024, 1 in 5 consumers fell victim to a scam. Plus, 1 in 3 people said they knew someone who had fallen foul to fraud.
Read on to discover three popular ways scammers may try to target you in 2025 and top tips to help you spot and stop scammers in their tracks.
Scammers deploy sneaky tactics – top 3 scams in 2024
Three prevalent scams, according to those targeted or known to have been targeted are:
1. Fake delivery scam
51% of people fell victim to this over the last year.
Email or text messages pretending to come from delivery companies try to encourage you to pay a small fee by clicking a link that’s then used to steal your personal details.
If you think you’ve received a fake delivery message – don’t click on any links in the text or email.
Royal Mail will never ask you to pay fees this way.
Royal Mail will never ask you to pay fees this way. So, if you receive a message that claims to be from Royal Mail asking you to pay a fee, hit delete.
2. HMRC scam
42% of people experienced a HMRC scam during 2024.
One of the most popular approaches is to tempt victims with a promise of a tax rebate. To process the rebate, fraudsters will ask for your bank account details.
Coming via email, text message, or voice call, the scam may also ask for additional personal information, including your name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details – often going so far as to request your passwords and even your mother’s maiden name.
If you provide the information, money can be stolen from your bank account and your details could be sold on to criminal gangs.
No matter how tempting a tax rebate may sound, always remember that HMRC will never ask for your bank account details via text or email so don’t respond.
If in doubt, hang up and call back at your convenience to see if you’re really owed a tax rebate. Lines open from 8 am and the earlier you call, the more likely your call will be answered promptly. When we called after 4 pm, we had to wait up to 30 minutes to speak to someone, whereas at 8 am we were talking to someone who could help in a matter of moments!
3. “Hello Mum” scam
37% of people have fallen victim to or are known to have been targeted by this text message scam, that tricks victims into thinking they’ve been contacted by their child.
First they’re asked to save a new number, and then persuaded to send money to a third party.
The scammer may explain that their phone is broken, preventing them from paying bills using the usual banking app. The reason for asking for money can vary – rent, a work expense, a favour – and the amount requested can sometimes be hundreds or thousands of pounds.
Once money has been sent, contact will stop.
The key reason this scam works is speed and urgency. The scammer wants to make sure the money is sent before the victim has chance to speak to their children and the scam is exposed.
Red flags to look out for
As well as these widespread, “in-fashion” frauds, there are other ever-present investment and pension scams to watch out for.
If you hold significant amounts of wealth in investments that you can access online, it’s crucial to understand how scammers might try to exploit you.
Here are some red flags to look out for, followed by five preventative measures to keep front of mind:
- An unsolicited approach by email, phone call, or even in person
- Hard sell tactics, such as time-limited deals, that pressure you to act fast
- Limited or overseas contact details that make the company hard to check up on
- “Guaranteed” returns on investment that seem too good to be true
- Complicated jargon that makes the terms and conditions unclear
- Emails asking you to click on a link and enter personal information.
5 top tips to help you avoid a scam
- Never trust unexpected inbound points of contact – however the message arrives, if someone contacts you requesting any personal data, check the contact details to verify they are genuine.
- If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is – if someone is promising fantastic returns, or anything else that sounds “off” it’s likely to be a scam.
- Just because a phone number looks genuine, doesn’t mean it is – it’s incredibly easy to spoof numbers that appear on your phone, allowing scammers to fool you into believing that they’re calling from a legitimate firm. If in doubt, hang up and call the organisation direct to ask if they have tried to contact you.
- Do your research – check to see if the company or individual is registered with a listing on the government Companies House page, look for any reviews others may have posted about the company. Plus, check the FCA register to find out if the company or individual in contact with you are authorised. If not, you may not be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Helpfully, you can also check for firms that have been reported for unauthorised activity.
- Speak to your financial planner – A financial planner can help provide peace of mind that you’re making a good decision or detect if you may have been an intended victim of financial fraud.
Get in touch
As a Chartered financial planning firm, we are here to help you make sound decisions and ensure you make the best decisions for both now and in the future.
If you’re concerned about how to protect your wealth from financial fraud, we can help.
Please email us at info@logicfinancialservices.co.uk or check with your adviser.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
