Beware of bogus ‘Winter Fuel Payments’ ads on Facebook and Instagram

Scammers are promoting 'Winter Fuel Payments' that don't exist.

Last month, we warned about fake texts promoting a range of living subsidies that included links to copycat government websites designed to steal personal and financial data.

Which? has now uncovered seven adverts on Facebook and Instagram that claim people of certain ages can receive a 'winter fuel payment' of £500 or £575 per person.

The government offers a Winter Fuel Payment of £200 or £300 to some people born before 23 September 1958. If you’re eligible, you’ll have received a letter in October or will get one in November saying how much your payment will be.

If you think you could be eligible, you can check on the gov.uk website.

Read on to discover what these Winter Fuel Payment scams are and how to spot scam ads on social media.

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Winter Fuel Payment scams

All seven adverts use a screenshot of the gov.uk website page about the Winter Fuel Payment and explain that, from October, certain groups of people will be eligible for a ‘heating subsidy.’

Some of the ads claim that people aged 41-55 years old and 56-65 years old can claim a certain amount, but these groups aren’t eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment as they were born after 1958.

Other adverts claim that people born between 1960 and 1990 can receive a payment, which also isn’t true.

We shared links to these adverts with Meta and it told us it was looking into them. It said: 'Fraudulent activity is not allowed on our platforms and we’re investigating the ads brought to our attention.

'We are continually investing in new technologies to tackle this industry-wide issue, and encourage people to report activity like this to us and the police, so we can take action.'

When we last checked, at the time of going to press, five of the seven adverts were still live. 

Meta has since removed all of the adverts.

Parked domain websites

All of the adverts linked to websites that featured links with gas and heating-related headlines. These links led to pages full of Google adverts. 

We checked the history of these websites and found they were created on 18 October 2024. All 'parked domains' were still live at the time of going to press. 

This is what’s known as a parked domain - a website registered with the intention of eventually being used or sold for a higher price in the future. In the meantime, parked domains can earn money for the owner by displaying Google adverts. Scammers can also hide phishing and malware links on these websites.

On the websites we visited, we saw adverts from energy companies and energy comparison sites.

Google’s ad policy prohibits ads from linking to parked domain sites that display only advertising listings and links.

We spoke to Google about Google Ads on parked domains and it told us that it has long offered advertisers the option to opt out of their ads appearing on parked domains and that if it finds ads that direct users to parked domains which breach its policies, it takes immediate action.  

Which? has reported these websites to the National Cyber Security Centre.

How to spot, avoid and report scam ads

Some scam adverts can be trickier to spot than others. However, some typical signs that an advert might be a scam are:

• The advert isn't coming from the brand’s official account - click on the account details of the advertiser to see what organisation is behind it.
• It has poor spelling and grammar used in the advert's copy.
• It has blurry and poor-quality images.
• It includes offers or claims that sound too good to be true.
• The advert or website includes a request for personal or financial information.

If you see a scam advert, you should report it. On social media, you can report posts and ads by selecting the three dots in the top-right corner and pressing 'report'.

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