Fraud continues to be one of the most prevalent crimes in the UK. For the first half of 2024, UK Finance, a collective voice for banking and finance industry, reports that 72% of all authorised push payment fraud originated from online platforms, through fake websites, social media posts and more.
Purchase scams occur when people make a payment for goods that they believe to be genuine, but which never materialise.
Fraudsters are known to use the increase in shopping at this time of the year as an opportunity to scam consumers.
- Try to buy from genuine websites that you’ve used successfully before
- If you’re buying from somewhere new, check reviews to see if it delivers what it says it will before paying for the product
- Check the website name. The page might look like that of a well-known brand (e.g. Apple) but the web address won’t be (e.g. www.ipadoffers.net). You can use ‘check a website’ to help you determine whether a website is likely to be legitimate or a scam
- Fraudsters can make real-looking promotional emails or social media adverts that can link to fake websites. Search for the page you want using a search engine rather than clicking links.
- Links in text messages about deliveries from couriers like Royal Mail and DPD asking for a fee to release a package will likely be a scam.
- A website that tells you to pay only by bank transfer might be trying to scam you
- Try to pay using your debit or credit card instead or buy what you need from another website that accepts card payments
- If you are shopping on an online marketplace such as Facebook Marketplace, Ebay etc. use the online platform’s secure payments option
- Think twice about where you feed in your personal information
- Banks may provide a passcode when shopping online. Never share your Investec online credentials (including One-Time Passcode) with anyone and do not approve any unexpected in-app authentication requests
More information
To find out more about purchase scams visit the Money Advice Service.
Fraud general information
For general information about fraud, please visit Investec’s Know Fraud page, or call our dedicated Fraud team if you have any concerns.
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