economy
The dangerous phone trap leaving unsuspecting Brits £3,516 worse off
A story about a man in his 70s, posing as a wealthy gentleman discharged from hospital, has been doing the rounds on the social media platform Reddit this week. The man, “dressed dapper”, says he needs money for a “train ticket and taxi” to York. Or Wakefield. Or Leeds. He promises to pay the unwitting passerby back, handing them an old train ticket with “his” phone number on it. When dialled, that phone number reportedly connects to the last person he swindled out of £20, or £25. One Reddit user responded saying he was conned out of “much more” than that. Apparently the bloke’s been doing this - with success - for more than three years. Talk about a wolf in sheep’s clothing! And that’s the problem, scams are getting increasingly more sophisticated and increasingly harder to detect.
TL;DR
- A scammer, posing as a dapper elderly gentleman needing money for travel, has been successfully conning people for over three years.
- Impersonation scams have increased by 10%, with average losses rising to £3,516 per victim.
- Scammers may impersonate banks or HMRC, instructing victims to move money to 'safe accounts' or click on malicious links.
- Always trust your intuition; if a situation feels wrong, disengage and contact the organization directly using verified contact information.
- Never transfer money to a 'safe account' as banks and police will not ask you to do so.
- Water companies are allowed to raise prices from 2027 to 2030, but eligible low-income households can claim social tariffs to reduce their bills.
- Thousands of households failed to claim unclaimed social water tariffs last year, potentially saving an average of £190.