Six of the strangest scams of 2025

From artificial intelligence robot puppies to fake news reporting the arrest of Martin Lewis, here’s a roundup of the strangest scams of the year.

Well-known scams that we’re all familiar with will always circulate, and sometimes they’ll develop into sophisticated and convincing cons. Others, completely new and downright bizarre scams pop up.

Below, we round up the strangest that we’ve come across this year.

1. Fake sales posts on Facebook

Identical posts across several Facebook groups prompted suspicion this year. In February, Which? found 10 identical posts on Facebook shared by different accounts in different groups, all claiming to be selling their late mother's vanity table.

The scam was an attempt to lure potential 'buyers' in, to take their money and leave them with nothing in return.

We spoke to one interested buyer of the vanity table who was told by the 'seller' that there had been lots of interest in the item and was asked to pay a deposit to secure it. When they arrived at the provided address to collect the item, they discovered it didn't exist.

2. Just Eat scam listings

At the start of this year, Which? discovered several listings on Just Eat that claimed to sell alcohol, but customers were complaining of paying and receiving nothing in return.

We then found some listings with over 200 one-star reviews, with many reviewers pleading for their money back. Some claimed that they tried to call the business they ordered from, but their calls were either unanswered or they said that they were running late and never showed up.

Which? also noticed some five-star and four-and-a-half-star reviews which looked like they’d been spam-posted by the same accounts on the same day, which are typical signs of fake reviews.

Just Eat removed all of the listings 

3. Martin Lewis fake news story

This year, fake images altered using artificial intelligence (AI) to show Martin Lewis being arrested were cropping up on social media.

The fake posts told a fictional story of Martin Lewis being taken into police custody due to speaking on financial matters that were so shocking they were illegal.

Of course, none of these claims were true, but the shock factor was there to generate clicks to a website that was nothing more than an investment scam. The websites asked for your personal and financial details so the scammers could then bombard you with calls and emails asking you to invest in too good to be true offers after signing up.

Martin Lewis also warned of these scams, asking users to report them to the platform and leave comments under them stating that they were fraudulent.

4. AI dog adverts

An advert, told from the point of view of a grandmother buying a ‘smart robotic puppy’ for her granddaughter, claimed that the robot barked, walked and wagged its tail ‘exactly like a real puppy.’

According to the marketing material, the puppy uses ‘technology to recognise voices and respond to them’. The adverts appear across social media, with several warnings from disgruntled customers describing the item as either never arriving or receiving an item that was completely different.

5. Sham trips to space

Elon Musk is regularly impersonated in investment scams and this year was no different. Scammers clearly saw a way to capitalise on the entrepreneur’s space venture, SpaceX.

Impersonations of the company appeared on social media and offered investment opportunities with sneaky tricks to con spectators into paying for faked livestreams of rocket launches. The scam also sent out phishing emails and texts.

7. WhatsApp Gold scam and Martinelli

The WhatsApp Gold and Martinelli scam recirculated again this year. The message promotes an exclusive service labelled WhatsApp Gold and is an attempt to install malware onto your phone after clicking a link.

This version of WhatsApp is said to offer ‘unlimited access to filters and media sharing’ as well as ‘video calling with up to 50 people.'

In another version of this scam message, you're warned of a video that's never actually been proven to exist. The WhatsApp message states that if you open a video message called Martinelli, you’ll also install malware on your device.