Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GRAHAM HISCOTT Say tech-no to ‘professionals’ Fraudsters get more sophisticated
CONSUMERS should be wary of anyone claiming to be a financial or legal professional – they’re likely to be a crook, Citizens Advice has warned.
Scammers posing as professionals now account for a fifth of all frauds reported to the charity.
Investment scams in particular are increasing – the number of cases has doubled in the last year.
Fraudsters offer tempting make-cash-quick schemes in areas such as cryptocurrency, binary option investments or holiday timeshares.
And they manipulate technology to set up bogus websites to trick people into believing they’re the real deal.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, warned: “Fraudsters are using new technology to peddle old tricks, posing as trustworthy professionals with persuasive offers. Anyone can fall victim to these sophisticated scams.”
One former finance professional did just that after being sucked into a sophisticated clone investment scam and invested £25,000 in a company she thought was legitimate.
The scammer had set up a clone website in a regulated investment company’s name so it appeared to be above board.
Meanwhile, one working mum was tricked into handing over £40,000 to a crypto currency investment that turned out to be a scam.
Moneysavingexpert Martin Lewis is suing Facebook over scam ads after it published more than 1,000 in the past year with his face on them. He said: “Frankly we are getting close to the stage where you shouldn’t trust any advert on social media. If you see something that intrigues you, independently find a legitimate trusted source that the advert hasn’t directed you to, to check whether the sales pitch is real or a trap.”