POUND NOTES

Financial fact

Over 900,000 new “no frills” feefree basic bank accounts were opened across the UK between July 2016 and June 2017, taking the total number of fee-free accounts open to nearly five million, according to figures from the Treasury.

Bogus government grant scam warning

People are being warned to watch out for emails and cold calls from fraudsters who are asking people to apply for government grants in return for an advance fee.

Action Fraud has received 85 reports of this type of fraud since January 2017 with a total loss of £255,724 and an average loss of £3,000.

The scam involves bogus companies claiming to be operating on behalf of the UK government.

Quitting New Year’s resolutions ‘could mean £187 is wasted typically’

People spend an average of £187 on New Year’s resolutions that they are quite likely to give up, a survey has found.

Last year, nearly a third (31%) of people had given up at least half of their resolutions, such as getting fit or a new hobby, by the end of January, TSB found.

By the end of March, nearly half (46%) had given up their resolutions.

Shoppers warned about dangers of buying fake goods

Shoppers should not underestimate the dangers of buying fake goods, according to police.

Detective Inspector Nicholas Court, of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), says: “Buying fake goods can not only pose a public safety risk, buying from rogue sites can also put your personal and financial information at risk, meaning criminals can use your identity for malicious means.”

PIPCU says shoppers should do their research before using an unfamiliar website, watch out for poor spelling and grammar on a website and avoid “too good to be true” offers.