Majority of people ‘struggle to spot which messages are scams’

Many people could be vulnerable to a fraud attack by failing to spot the warning signs that a message appearing to be from a legitimate company is actually a scam, research from TSB suggests.

Less than one in five people were able to identify all messages which were bogus in an experiment conducted by the bank.

TSB showed 2,000 adults across the UK a series of 20 emails and texts from third parties, such as banks, and mobile phone providers –

10 of which were genuine communications and a further 10 of which were imitating companies.

Just 18% of people who took part were able to correctly identify all 10 dodgy messages.

Signs that a message is not genuine may include spelling mistakes and links to websites that are not official.

Links that take someone to a page asking for login, account or card details are also a warning sign, as are messages that try to make people take an action urgently.

Another warning sign of messages not being genuine is announcements that an organisation would never normally make in a text message such as a tax refund, or penalty notice.

Younger adults aged 18 to 24 could be particularly at risk of falling for a scam.

Only 9% of people in this age group achieved a full score when identifying bogus messages.

More than a third (37%) of people generally indicated that they would respond to at least one of the bogus messages claiming to be from their bank, rising to two-fifths (41%) of 18 to 24-year-olds.