Rogue Traders
29th May 2025
North East Lincolnshire Council's Trading Standards officers issued tips for dealing with rogue traders following reports of cold callers claiming to be money experts in the region. Lincolnshire Police said it was also investigating reports of people posing as professional roofers in Lincoln.
Councillor Ron Shepherd said: "Rogue traders and cold callers can be a real menace to our communities. Please do look out for your family members too, particularly older people, who may be targeted."
19th May 2025
Roofing work is one of the most commonly outsourced home improvement services in the UK ?" and unfortunately, also one of the most frequently targeted by rogue traders. While there are countless reputable roofing companies operating nationwide, a growing number of reports to Trading Standards and consumer watchdogs highlight a worrying trend: an increase in roofing-related scams, particularly affecting elderly and vulnerable homeowners.
These scams not only cause financial loss but can also result in significant structural damage when work is carried out improperly or left unfinished. In many cases, the perpetrators are unqualified, uninsured individuals masquerading as professionals, using high-pressure sales tactics or false claims to manipulate property owners into unnecessary, overpriced, or poorly executed work.
Phishing Scams
11th June 2025
Here you can find Which?'s list of the scams you need to know about this month, including Boots impersonation scams and fake crypto offers.
4th June 2025
Criminals stole £47m from the online accounts of 100,000 people after posing as taxpayers, HMRC has revealed. The tax authority said it is writing to those affected to confirm it has secured their accounts, they haven't had any money stolen, and they don't need to do anything.
"These are attempts to claim money fraudulently from HMRC, not from customers," HMRC said. There has already been a criminal investigation with arrests made last year, HMRC confirmed. It said the criminals used phishing attacks to gain customer details and attempted to claim rebates.
2nd June 2025
As of April 2025, the total number of phishing scams reported to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) reached over 41 million since its launch in April 2020. This has resulted in 217,000 scams being removed from across 393,395 websites pages by the National Cyber Security Centre.
Insight revealed by Action Fraud shows the top industries impersonated in reported phishing emails were streaming services, tech and telecommunication companies, with some posing as various UK government schemes.
10th June 2025
Nine in ten Brits intend to book overseas holidays in 2025, with 96% saying holidays are now an essential spend in their annual budget. But as consumers eagerly plan and book their getaways, this surge in activity ?" coupled with a high volume of emails and promotional offers from travel companies ?" creates a perfect storm for cybercriminals, turning dream holidays into costly scams.
9th June 2025
Scam emails, texts and websites which include DVLA logos and branding in an attempt to appear legitimate.The aim of the messages is to encourage you to click on a link leading to a copycat DVLA website that asks for personal and financial information.
One of the most common DVLA Scams is receiving a fake email that claims your car tax is overdue. Here's an example of what it might sound like...
Telephone Scams
11th June 2025
Motability Scheme customers could be at risk of being targeted by malicious phone calls attempting to steal personal details. The scheme, run by Motability Operations, allows people receiving certain disability benefits to allocate some or all of their benefit towards leasing a new car, scooter, or wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
Eligible benefits for the scheme can include Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP), and War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement (WPMS).
21st May 2025
Answering a call with a casual ‘yes’ might seem harmless, but these days it could hand criminals everything they need to drain your savings.
With just that one syllable on record, criminals can authorise transactions, open accounts in your name or even impersonate you in front of banks and service providers. Here’s why this one-word phone scam has taken off and how you can stop it in its tracks.
Online Scams
28th May 2025
A banking and finance industry body has warned that criminals are changing their methods to purchase items online using stolen information, sometimes deceiving individuals into revealing their one-time passcodes. UK Finance reported 3.13 million cases of unauthorised fraud in 2024, marking a 14 per cent increase compared to 2023.
These cases involve money being taken from an account by a third party without the account holder's consent.
29th May 2025
Fraud is the most prevalent type of crime in the UK, accounting for over 40% of offences in England and Wales, according to figures from the National Crime Agency.
Criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2024, according to trade body UK Finance (UKF). This is unchanged since 2023, and represents suffering and turmoil for millions of people. UKF says banks prevented a further £1.45 billion of unauthorised fraud through advanced security systems.
