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How vulnerable are you to scams?
A change in your circumstances or to your health can leave you - or a loved one - more at risk. Find out how
You may think that you’ll never fall for a scam and might wonder how anyone does. But any of us can end up becoming a victim.
While some scams might seem obvious to you, one could catch you out - like a targeted ad that uses an algorithm to determine the perfect product for you. You could be caught at a bad time or become the subject of manipulation over a lengthy period by a skilled scammer.
If you want to know what traits, factors and triggers make us all susceptible to scams, read on.
The full version of this article was originally published in the Aug/Sep 2025 issue of Which? Tech magazine.
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Everyone’s a scam target
We spoke to Prof Mark Button, from the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, who explained that there can be distinctions in which scams target different segments of the population.
For example, phone scams target older people as they’re more likely to use landlines, while crypto scams on social media often appeal to young men, who Prof Button described as being ‘more likely to take risks and be impulsive’.
Sometimes the platforms you use indicate what type of scams you’re most likely to be targeted by, but age can also play a factor.
Ofcom’s Adults’ Media Lives study, published in May 2025, found that when faced with a mock-up of a scam email, people aged over 65 were more adept at spotting the scam than those aged 25 to 34. However, a mock-up of a fake social media profile was better spotted by people aged 16 to 24 than those aged over 65 or between 45 and 54.
Targeting vulnerable communities on social media
A moderator of a benefits support group on Facebook told Which? that they had seen a rise in scam texts claiming to be about cost-of-living payments.
Likewise, the charity Rethink Mental Illness said that it sees comments from scammers appearing under its own social media posts.
It told us: ‘These often take the form of attempting to scam people into buying counterfeit medication. It’s sadly an issue that many charities will face.
'We moderate our channels and delete these comments as soon as we spot them, and introducing automatic rules to ban comments with certain keywords has helped to resolve the issue.’
It’s all about timing
Prof Button explained: ‘Loneliness and living alone are definitely factors influencing being at greater risk of becoming a scam victim. Without a network of friends and/or family, and no one to ask about potential scams, you don’t have a sounding board. So how do you verify things?
‘The very early stages of cognitive decline also put you at greater risk of victimisation, as you’re not as sharp at detecting scams.
'The recently widowed and bereaved who have lost their partner to share and discuss things with are at a very vulnerable stage, and it’s similar with divorce. There’s also some research showing that the isolation and loneliness linked to depression make you more vulnerable.’
Characteristics of vulnerability
Prof Button’s points are supported by what the UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), considers to be characteristics of vulnerability. These are traits that make someone especially susceptible to harm due to their personal circumstances.
They include health, difficult life events, a lack of resilience to withstand drastic financial and emotional changes, and having poor literacy, financial and digital skills.
To gain a better understanding of why people fall for scams, Which? carried out research in 2022, which found that scams are often successful when the victims are particularly stressed, tired or distracted.
Scammers take advantage of this via two primary tactics: they create an overwhelming sense of urgency and manipulate the victim past their bank’s warnings and other potential points of intervention (known as social engineering).
How online grooming works
After a scammer has hooked you in, a process of grooming begins.
Prof Button told us: ‘Fraudsters use grooming tactics, such as sometimes giving money to the victims at the start to build confidence. Other times, grooming can be a quick act of social engineering, where you’re coached on what to say if the bank or police contacts you.
'Grooming also involves building fake websites and showing the victim all the non-existent money they have in their account.’
His research on hybrid investment and romance scams referenced various grooming strategies. These included ‘testing the waters’ by initially only requesting small amounts of money, leveraging emotional bonds, using multiple communication channels to increase intimacy and adopting an authoritative persona, such as a doctor.
Four factors that can make you or a loved one more vulnerable
- Health - conditions or illnesses that affect your ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, whether permanently or temporarily, can make you more vulnerable. These include long-term physical and mental disabilities such as hearing or visual impairments, suffering from low mental capacity or a cognitive disability. It also applies to mental health conditions such as depression, which can be accompanied by isolation and loneliness, which can also make you more vulnerable.
- Life events - difficult personal experiences can alter your alertness, resilience and ability to identify scams. Challenging circumstances, such as bereavement and divorce, can completely alter your life and make you less likely to realise you’re being conned. Situational change, including job loss, retirement and unexpected changes to income, can throw off your usual instincts, making you more susceptible to fraud.
- Resilience - in terms of your ability to cope with challenging financial circumstances is also an indicator of vulnerability to scams. If you have no or low savings or a lot of debt, you might be more likely to be lured into tempting investment schemes with promises of large returns.
- Capability - if you or someone you know has poor digital skills and knowledge of how to use tech devices and the internet, scammers can take advantage of this in their schemes. This category also includes anyone with low confidence in understanding and managing their finances or who is struggling with literacy skills.
‘He played on my emotions using imaginary scenarios and fake aliases’
A ruthless scammer groomed Rohan (not his real name) over the course of nearly a year in an investment scam. During that time, the fraudster, posing as an account manager, adopted many fake aliases over the course of the scam – he wasn’t just Rohan’s account manager, he was his friend.
This friend was much needed, as Rohan was going through a divorce and a custody battle at the time, as well as suffering from poor mental health and looking after his elderly father.
This didn’t stop him from doing his due diligence, though. He trawled through positive reviews on Trustpilot and read news stories about the company. He initially made a small investment - and was able to withdraw his returns.
The scammer played on Rohan’s emotions using imaginary scenarios enacted through his many pseudonyms.
A medico-legal report carried out by a psychiatrist confirmed that Rohan was a ‘highly vulnerable adult’ at the time of being scammed.
When Rohan became suspicious and couldn’t withdraw his earnings, he was suddenly told that the wife of one of the employees at the investment scheme had experienced a miscarriage, another one’s father had died and someone else's brother had been in a traumatic accident.
This effectively quietened Rohan’s requests for withdrawal until he eventually lost just over £900,000.
Seen or been affected by a scam? Help us protect others
Sharing details of the scam helps us to protect others as well as inform our scams content, research and policy work. We will collect information relating to your experience of a scam, but we won't be able to identify your responses unless you choose to provide your contact details.
Share scam detailsWhat can be done about scams?
There has been some significant progress in tackling scams in the UK, but Which? believes more is needed.
The Online Safety Act (OSA), enforced by Ofcom, aims to reduce the amount of illegal content online by placing obligations on platforms to detect and remove it. And this includes fraud.
However, the process for implementing duties on most paid-for fraudulent ads for major platforms was delayed and most likely won’t come into force until 2027.
Ofcom told us that the timing of the duties for fraudulent ads under the code had changed due to government delays in determining which platforms are subject to these additional duties.
Which? believes that the OSA should be implemented in full without further delay, and that the government should push forward plans to prevent scam advertising outside the scope of the OSA.
Which? is calling on the government to use its forthcoming fraud strategy to set out a comprehensive approach to tackling fraud, ensuring that there are no gaps in protections that scammers can exploit to target consumers.
For those who lose money to scams, there are some protections. The Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) implemented mandatory reimbursement for bank fraud victims, up to a maximum of £85,000, in October 2024. Which? wants the PSR to maintain its reimbursement scheme when it’s reviewed this October.
The charity Victim Support can offer emotional support to those affected by crime, including fraud.
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Four scam tactics you need to know about
- Being a voice of authority - is this person who they say they are? Posing as someone you trust, for example a GP or someone from your bank, can be how scammers start their social engineering process.
- A sense of urgency - are you being pressured to make a decision? This is one of the most common scam tactics. Fraudsters will try to get you to part with your money and data quickly before you cotton on.
- Playing on emotion - does the person’s use of language make you feel overwhelmed or worried? You may be talking with a scammer if they’re using highly emotive language to get you to take a particular action, or they’re telling you a sob story even though they just started talking to you and you’ve never met in person.
- Building relationships - are you being asked personal questions? Strangers who try to obtain private details about you could be attempting to build up a rapport to eventually scam you.
