Annual living allowance text scam

Scammers are attempting to steal personal information using a phoney 'annual living allowance' text and website.

With an imitation of the government's Cost of Living Payments scheme, this scam includes a link to a very convincing copycat government website. 

Below, we show you what this scam looks like and explain what the Cost of Living payment is and how you qualify for it.

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Annual living allowance text

This scam text refers to an ‘annual allowance’, which is not an official government scheme and claims that your 2023-2024 allowance hasn't been received.

The scammers could be avoiding referring to a recognisible benefit to try to get you to click through to the copycat website. 

The message claims that you have a short window of ‘three working days’ to submit your application ‘as soon as possible’.

Copycat government website

The link in the message takes you to a copycat government website using a convincing gov.uk logo, font and branding, and also includes genuine links to the official gov.uk website.

It instructs you to register to receive a ‘£900 Cost of Living payment’ by entering your name, number, email address and home address. It also requests your financial information to receive the payment. 

We entered fake personal information to see what happened and it continued to take us to a payment page.

The website’s URL is one of the clearest giveaways that it’s a scam as the only official government website is gov.uk. We checked the details of this website and this scam site was created last week.

Another scam sign is that it asks for your 'state' and' zip code', which are not terms typically used in the UK.

Am I entitled to a Cost of Living payment?

The government offers Cost of Living Payments to some people who were already entitled to certain benefits or tax credits on particular dates between 2022 and 2024.

You don't need to apply for these – if you’re eligible you’re paid automatically.

Cost of Living payments of £299, £300, £301, £324 and £326 are made to those receiving:

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit

The government has previously warned that messages asking you to apply or to contact someone about payments could be scams.

Spotting and avoiding dodgy copycat websites

Four steps to check whether you're on a copycat website are:

• Checking if the URL doesn't begin with 'https’ Most websites do nowadays, but if it's a 'http' website it's not encrypted and is a good indication of a dodgy website.
• Checking for slight changes in the website address Scammers will try to mimic an official URL as closely as possible, so examine the address for small typos.
• Considering how you found the website If you were directed to it from a message, email or online advert, you should question it.
• Reading the pages on the website carefully as it may say that it’s not officially affiliated with the actual organisation.

You can report scam websites to the National Cyber Security Centre and texts can be forwarded to 7726.

You can also report the scam to Action Fraud or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland. If you lose money to a scam, contact your bank immediately using the number on the back of your card.

If you have clicked on a dodgy link and shared personal or financial information, you should contact your bank immediately and notify them. You should also be cautious of any further communications requesting you move money or make payments as scammers may attempt to contact you again.