Scams
Scams are schemes to con you out of your money. They usually come by post, phone or email.
Fake lotteries and prize draws, bogus psychic predictions, get rich quick investments and miracle health cures are just some of the many tricks that scammers try. The tactics that these conmen use are so powerful that it can be difficult to say no.
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Research
Our research (pdf 303kb) indicates that around three million UK consumers lose a total of £3.5 billion to scams every year, and sometimes a great deal more. And it's not just your money that's at risk. Being taken in by a scam can be very distressing.
The scammers are clever, and all kinds of people from all walks of life get duped. If you let down your guard, you too could become a victim.
Scams awareness campaigns
The OFT's scams awareness campaigns provide consumers with information and advice on how to identify scams and protect themselves, and others.
Our campaigns run throughout the year targeting specific scams and we also have an annual scams awareness month in February (the UK's contribution to ICPEN's International Fraud Prevention Month).
Help stop scammers
You can help to stop scammers by telling your friends and family and by making us aware of any scams that you have encountered. You can do this by getting scams advice from the Consumer Direct website. You can even report a scam.
To report a scam contact Action Fraud - the UK's national fraud reporting centre.
Television advert
See the OFT YouTube channel for all recent television adverts, radio adverts and videos.
Scams television advert - aired free of charge
Documents and links
Scams further information
- See Scams Awareness Month - Assessment of the outputs of the Scams Awareness campaign (pdf 108kb) (September 2011)
- Download the Scamnesty campaign 2010 evaluation report (pdf 463kb).
- Download Research on the impact of mass marketed scams (pdf 303 kb).
- Download The psychology of scams: Provoking and committing errors of judgement (pdf 3.3 mb).
- Information for businesses is available in the business scams section and you can find out how to spot different types of scams.
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