‘The emotional impact can be devastating’

TV presenter Rav Wilding, 44, is a former detective constable for the Metropolitan Police. He fronts Scam Interceptors, working alongside software engineer and arch scam exposer Jim Browning and his team.

Anybody, absolutely anybody, can get scammed – that’s what I’ve learnt from making this new series.

We tend to think it’s the elderly or the vulnerable who are more likely to fall for a con, but during the filming of Scam Interceptors, it became apparent that 20-somethings, students, medical doctors and even legal professionals are at risk of being caught out.

But we’re here to help. From our hub in Glasgow, we use the same remote-access technology that criminals use to scam their victims, and we will hack the hackers.

Viewers will be able to watch as our ethical hackers – professional hackers carrying out their work for nonmalicious reasons – infiltrate these scammers while they’re in the act of targeting people.

REAL TIME

It is a race against time as we intercept the criminals, work speedily to find out information about the victim, identify the victim and then contact them in the middle of real-time scams to try to stop the crime before it happens.

There are numerous scammers out there and every day they attempt to carry out thousands of scams in the UK.

Sadly, the pandemic has made it even worse.

I don’t know a single person who hasn’t had a scam text or email. I, for one, have received convincing messages, some claiming to be from the NHS, Royal Mail or other delivery companies.

It’s only because of the work I do through Crimewatch that I know the sort of tricks these scammers are using.

The emotional impact of falling for this type of crime can be devastating, sometimes even worse than the financial impact.

Some of the most heartbreaking scams are those carried out on people

‘EVERYONE IS AT RISK OF BEING CAUGHT OUT’

using dating websites, which is explored in the series.

These are crimes that are underreported. The facts and figures we have are just a drop in the ocean, because victims are too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward. They think they have met the love of their life, but it’s likely that person is targeting another 10 to 20 people at the same time.

SCAM METHODS

In Scam Interceptors, we explore the evolving methods of catching scammers, but, sadly, we see that the con artists are improving their tactics too.

We want to show people how these scammers operate and to demonstrate the ways they would contact you. We also want to help if you’re caught out – if you ever do fall for a scam, speed is of the essence.

You need to contact your bank immediately and your bank needs to work as fast as possible to stop any payment from going through to a scammer. It’s important to call the police and write down every detail of what’s happened.

Online shopping is another area where hackers are always looking to take people’s money. Always be on the lookout for the spelling of a website if it’s one you’re not familiar with, and check reviews to see if a site is genuine or not.

Scam Interceptors also looks at the biggest anti-social issues that have arisen in the pandemic, celebrating the local heroes in communities who are tackling problems such as bike theft and fly-tipping.

I’m really proud to be working on this show. Stopping scammers in the middle of their crimes is groundbreaking TV.

CRACKING DOWN

‘CON ARTISTS ARE IMPROVING TACTICS’

If we can catch out large-scale operations and expose the techniques they use to target victims, we can help the general public and crack down on the scams.

The live scams, with a ticking clock and insights into how to spot a scammer, will let viewers put themselves in the victims’ shoes and get invaluable advice from the experts on how to avoid being conned themselves.

✣ The 15-part series of Scam Interceptors continues at 10am on weekdays on BBC1.