The five biggest scams of 2021
Fraudsters impersonating organisations were the most common scams last year, according to reports shared with Which?. The crime you’re most likely to fall victim to this year is fraud, according...
Direct debit traps exposed: ‘home appliance cover calls tricked my gran out of £10,000’
Cold callers peddling appliance insurance and other services are still targeting older people with stealthy direct debits that can go undetected for years.
Scams impact on victims’ wellbeing amounts to £9.3bn
The impact of scams on victim wellbeing costs £9.3bn a year – at a personal cost of £2,509 each – Which? research has found. Which?’s latest research – conducted with...
Text scams epidemic laid bare: seven in 10 don’t trust messages from companies
Trust in text messages is worryingly low, with seven in 10 of us not always trusting texts that claim to be from companies or organisations, Which? has found.* Regulator Ofcom...
Three in five people have received a scam delivery text in the past year
The scam most often reported to Which? in the past three months has been fake text messages – also known as ‘smishing’ or SMS phishing – from Royal Mail.
Fraud at your front door: How doorstep scammers exploited the pandemic
Not all scams take place online. Which? investigates how criminals have been impersonating tradespeople and charity fundraisers, in order to target vulnerable older people.
Two in five victims of online scam adverts don’t report to host platforms
The reactive approach taken by the world’s biggest online platforms to tackle fraudulent adverts allows harmful scams to slip through the net, Which? research suggests.
Devastating emotional impact of online scams must force government action
Which? is urgently calling for the government to outline its plans to tackle scams on online platforms, as new research exposes the devastating emotional consequences of online scams for victims....
How PayPal fails fraud victims
Some PayPal customers have found it difficult to get reimbursed when they’ve run into problems – particularly victims of fraud. In 2019, PayPal had 281 million users and it is...
Nearly one in ten scammed by adverts on social media or search engines
Scam adverts on the biggest online platforms have tricked almost one in ten people into paying out for sham purchases. Which? surveyed 2,000 people who use social media and search...