Cost of Living

Criminals are using the growing concern over price rises to pretend to be from a trusted organisation or company to win your trust and trick you into revealing personal and financial information by:

• Getting in touch via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and pretending to be a family member who has lost their phone or has a new number and urgently needs cash to pay bills, buy food or purchase a new mobile device
  
• Claiming to be from an energy provider or price comparison site, offering you cut price energy as a limited time offer that you need to sign-up for and pay straight away
• Sending emails or sharing social media posts that ask you to enter a competition or complete a questionnaire in return for fuel coupons, grocery vouchers or free food
• Luring you into believing you qualify for a government grant or tax rebate, using professional-looking websites to persuade you that they are genuine

Millions of people use online sites such as eBay, Gumtree, and social media to purchase goods. However, criminals also use these sites to offer goods for sale that they don't have or are fake. With prices rising, it’s tempting to look for a bargain and criminals will look to exploit this by:

• Requesting you make payment for the goods directly, rather than through a recognised secure payment service such as your bank card or PayPal
• Creating online adverts with attractive prices for goods or home rentals that are usually too good to be true
• Becoming rogue traders, who offer to provide goods and do work at lower prices. Payment is often requested upfront, with a special discounted deal if you pay cash. The work is either never completed, left unfinished or you’re asked for increasing amounts to cover urgent and more expensive repair work that you don’t need

This type of scam offers you the opportunity to make money quickly. You may be tempted to invest in a company or goods, with the promise to gain even more than you put in  or by being asked to simply hold money in your account for a short period of time. Criminals will try to tempt you into getting rich quick by:

• Offering a cash incentive for receiving a transfer into your bank account and keeping it there until told to transfer it onto another account. This is known as being a Money Mule and is illegal
• Asking you to invest in a scheme, shares or commodities, with the promise that you’ll quickly be able to sell these on at a higher price. However, they usually don’t exist or aren’t worth the money you pay for them. Common types of investment scams include cryptocurrency, gold and wine
• Contacting you via social media to tell you how you can claim back refunds on your Direct Debits via your bank. You’ll be asked for financial or personal details so they can make a refund request with the bank. The criminal will then take a cut of the refunded money as payment for letting you know about the service. Unfortunately, as this is a false claim, you’ll still owe the service provider and will be out of pocket from the ‘fee’ you paid to the criminals. As they now have your details, you’ll also be at risk for further fraud

It’s not just payments going out of your account that you need to watch out for. Be aware of scammers trying to trick you over payments coming in, too.

Last year saw a rise in bill related scams, with fraudsters getting people to reveal their bank details. We believe the same tactics will be used for those expecting the Government’s Cost of Living Payments.

Please be aware that you don’t need to apply for these payments. If you’re eligible, you’ll be paid automatically, as you are with benefits and tax credits. Don’t give anyone your bank details and be alert for any messages (email, text or social media) that ask for them.

With costs rising, it’s easy to be caught out by this type of scam. Here are some of the things to look out for:

• Being asked to complete an application form for the Cost of Living Payment. If you’re eligible, you’ll automatically receive the payment.
• A request for your bank details to receive the payment.
• Email, text or social media messages asking you to make contact regarding your Cost of Living Payment.

Find out more about government cost of living support.