The scams people report most, and how to avoid each one
1. Bank, card and account fraud, including calls from fake bank staff and police
Bank and credit account fraud is the largest category in the Crime Survey: about 2.8 million incidents in the year to June 2026, up 13% [1]. In Report Fraud’s data, cheque, plastic card and online bank account fraud became the most reported fraud type in 2025-26 [2]. In October 2026 Report Fraud warned of a spike in calls that spoof real police phone numbers to get personal or financial details [7].[1][2][7][12]
Reported in: Phone calls, texts and messaging apps, across the UK
How it works
A caller says your account has been compromised or that you are helping an investigation. The number on your screen may match your bank or a police force. You are asked to read out a code, install an app that lets them see your screen, or move your money to a “safe account” that belongs to the fraudster.
Red flags
- Any request to move money to a “safe account”
- A request for a one-time passcode, PIN or full password
- A caller who will not let you hang up and call back
- Being told to keep the call secret from your bank branch or family
How to protect yourself
- Hang up and call your bank on the number on your card, or call 159
- Do not trust caller ID: numbers can be spoofed
- Never install remote access apps at a caller’s request
If it happened to you
- Call your bank at once and ask it to stop the payment and freeze the account
- Report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or Police Scotland on 101
- Text 7726 with the word “Call” and the caller’s number
Where to report: Your bank first; Report Fraud (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) or Police Scotland 101; 7726 for the number.
2. Phishing texts, emails and fake websites, and hacked social media accounts
Hacking of social media and email accounts made up 69% of all cyber crime reported to Report Fraud in 2025-26, with 44,355 reports, up 34% [2]. The NCSC had removed 454,800 scam web addresses reported by the public by July 2026 [5], and the 7726 text-reporting service had led to 41,900 scams being taken down across 93,300 web addresses by September 2026 [6]. HMRC warns that it never tells you about a tax rebate by text or asks for payment details that way [13].[2][5][6][13]
Reported in: Text messages, email, WhatsApp and social media
How it works
A message claims to come from HMRC, a delivery company, your bank, a streaming service or a government department. It links to a copy of the real website that collects your login, card details or a security code. Hacked accounts are then used to send the same trick to your friends.
Red flags
- A link in an unexpected text or email that asks you to pay, log in or confirm details
- A tax refund, fine or unpaid toll that needs action today
- A friend asking for a code that has just been sent to your phone
How to protect yourself
- Type the organisation’s address yourself or use its app; do not click links
- Turn on two-step verification for email and social media
- Never share a code sent to your phone
If it happened to you
- Change the password and recover the account through the platform
- Call your bank if you entered card details
- Report it to Report Fraud if you lost money
Where to report: Emails to report@phishing.gov.uk; texts to 7726; HMRC messages to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk or 60599; losses to Report Fraud.
3. Online shopping and ticket fraud
Online shopping and auction fraud was the second most reported fraud type in Report Fraud’s 2025-26 assessment, and the most common fraud reported by people under 30 [2]. The Crime Survey classes goods that never arrive, are misdescribed or fake, as well as ticket fraud, as consumer and retail fraud [1].[1][2][12][14][15]
Reported in: Social media marketplaces, fake shops, ticket resale and classified adverts
How it works
An item, ticket, pet or rental flat is offered below the usual price. The seller asks for a bank transfer rather than card or the platform’s own checkout, then disappears or sends nothing.
Red flags
- A price that is much lower than everywhere else
- Pressure to pay by bank transfer, often to a personal account
- A seller who will not let you see the item or flat in person
How to protect yourself
- Pay by credit or debit card or through the platform’s checkout
- Buy tickets from the official seller or an authorised reseller
- Never pay a deposit for a flat you have not viewed
If it happened to you
- Ask your bank or card provider about a refund or chargeback
- Report it to Report Fraud
- Get advice from the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133
Where to report: Your bank; Report Fraud; Citizens Advice, which passes reports to Trading Standards.
4. Fake jobs, visa sponsorship offers and other advance-fee scams
Advance fee fraud was the third most reported fraud type in 2025-26, and Report Fraud says its most common form among people under 30 was bogus recruitment; it also saw many fake “task” jobs that ask workers to deposit their own money in cryptocurrency platforms [2]. The Home Office warns about websites offering UK jobs that do not exist and then asking for visa and other fees, and says a genuine employer would never ask for payment to secure a visa [16]. Employers must pay the certificate of sponsorship fee themselves and can lose their sponsor licence if they ask the worker to pay it [18].[2][16][17][18][23]
Reported in: Job sites, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram and social media, often aimed at people outside the UK
How it works
You receive a UK job offer with “visa sponsorship included”, often without a real interview. Then come fees for a “work permit”, the certificate of sponsorship, a registration or a deposit to show funds. Fake documents carry Home Office logos. In the task version, you are paid small sums for simple online tasks, then asked to deposit money to unlock bigger earnings.
Red flags
- Any fee for a job, a certificate of sponsorship or an “employee registration”
- An offer by WhatsApp or Telegram, or from a free email address
- A guaranteed visa, or a job offered without an interview
- Being asked to pay into a personal account or by voucher or crypto
How to protect yourself
- Check the employer on the gov.uk register of licensed sponsors
- Apply for the visa yourself on gov.uk; official Home Office emails end in @homeoffice.gov.uk
- Never pay to get a job or to withdraw “earnings”
If it happened to you
- Stop paying and keep every message, document and receipt
- Report it to Report Fraud, or to the police in the country where you live
- Warn others in the group or forum where you found the offer
Where to report: Report Fraud if you are in the UK; the police where you live if you are abroad.
5. Investment and crypto scams, clone firms and recovery scams
Report Fraud received 36,464 investment fraud reports in 2025-26, 37% more than the year before; cryptocurrency was involved in 32% of them, and investment fraud was the type most often linked to AI, such as fake videos of well-known people endorsing a scheme [2]. Other financial investment fraud had an average loss of £38,756 per victim [2]. The FCA warns about clone firms that copy the name and details of authorised firms, and about recovery scams that target people who have already lost money [10] [11].[2][10][11]
Reported in: Social media adverts, messaging groups, cold calls and fake trading websites
How it works
An advert or new online contact offers high returns from crypto, forex or a “secret” scheme. A professional-looking platform shows your balance growing. Withdrawals are blocked until you pay a tax or fee, and later someone offers to recover your money for an upfront charge.
Red flags
- Guaranteed or very high returns, or pressure to invest quickly
- A celebrity endorsement in an advert or video
- A firm you cannot find on the FCA Firm Checker, or contact details that differ from it
- An offer to recover lost money for a fee
How to protect yourself
- Check the firm on the FCA Firm Checker and contact it only through the details listed there
- Search the FCA Warning List of unauthorised firms
- Never let someone you met online manage your investments
If it happened to you
- Stop paying, including “fees” to release your money
- Report the firm to the FCA on 0800 111 6768
- Report the loss to Report Fraud and tell your bank
Where to report: FCA 0800 111 6768; Report Fraud; your bank.
6. Romance fraud
Report Fraud recorded 11,980 dating scam reports in 2025-26, up 26%, with losses of about £121 million [2]. For calendar year 2025 the City of London Police counted 10,784 romance fraud reports and £102 million lost, almost £280,000 a day; people aged 55 to 74 lost almost half of the total [9]. The police say AI-generated pictures and messages are now used, and that many romance scams turn into fake investments [9].[2][9]
Reported in: Dating apps, social media and messaging apps
How it works
A new contact becomes affectionate quickly, avoids video calls and meetings, and after weeks or months asks for money for an emergency, travel or a joint investment.
Red flags
- Strong feelings expressed very early
- Excuses not to meet or to video call
- Requests for money, gift cards, crypto or an “investment together”
How to protect yourself
- Never send money to someone you have not met in person
- Talk to a friend or family member before you send anything
- Search the person’s photos and name
If it happened to you
- Stop paying and keep the messages
- Call your bank, then report it to Report Fraud or Police Scotland
- Report the profile to the app
Where to report: Your bank; Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040; Police Scotland on 101.
7. Courier fraud: fake police or bank staff who send someone to your door
Courier fraud reports rose from 1,721 in 2024 to 1,891 in 2025, with losses of more than £21 million, an average of £15,311 per victim; about 65% of victims live in London and the surrounding counties, and most are aged over 70 [8]. In the highest-loss cases victims were told to buy gold or jewellery and hand it over [8].[7][8][2][14]
Reported in: Landline and mobile calls, followed by a visit; London and the Home Counties most of all
How it works
A caller posing as a police officer or bank investigator says your account is being used by criminals and asks you to help. You are told to withdraw cash, buy gold or jewellery, or hand over your bank card and PIN to a courier or taxi driver who comes to collect it.
Red flags
- A caller who says you are helping a police investigation
- A request to withdraw cash or buy valuables
- Someone coming to your home to collect cards, cash or jewellery
How to protect yourself
- The police and your bank will never send a courier to collect money or cards
- End the call, wait, and call back on a number you have checked yourself, or use 159 or 101
- Tell older relatives and neighbours about this trick
If it happened to you
- Call your bank to cancel the cards
- Report it to Report Fraud, or to the police on 101
- Call 999 if the courier is still nearby
Where to report: Your bank; Report Fraud; police 101 or 999 in an emergency.
City by city
London
London is the main hotspot for courier fraud: the capital and the counties around it account for about 65% of victims [8]. The Metropolitan Police area also recorded the highest romance fraud losses in 2025, £12.1 million [9], and London and the South East accounted for the largest share of romance fraud reports [2].[8][9][2][7]
- Treat any caller who claims to be from the Met or the City of London Police and asks for money or cards as a fraudster, then call 101 yourself
- Report fraud online at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040
Where to report: Your bank; Report Fraud; police 101.
South East and East of England
Courier fraudsters travel out of London to Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey and Kent [8]. After the Met, the largest romance fraud losses in 2025 were in Hampshire (£3.45 million), Essex (£3.2 million) and Thames Valley (£3.18 million) [9].[8][9]
- Your bank and the police will never send a courier or taxi to collect cards, cash or jewellery
Where to report: Your bank; Report Fraud; police 101.
Rest of England and Wales
Fraud is reported in every force area: Devon and Cornwall recorded £3.1 million of romance fraud losses in 2025 [9]. The national channels are the same everywhere in England and Wales, and Citizens Advice runs a Welsh-language consumer line on 0808 223 1144 [15].[9][14][15][4]
- Call the police on 101 if the scammer is in your area or you paid them in the last 24 hours, as Citizens Advice suggests [14]
- Report all scams to Report Fraud as well, so they reach the national database
Where to report: Report Fraud; police 101; Citizens Advice 0808 223 1133.
Scotland
Report Fraud covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, victims of fraud and cyber crime report to Police Scotland on 101 [5]. The UK-wide tools still apply: forward scam texts to 7726 and scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk [5] [6].[5][6]
- Call your bank first, then Police Scotland on 101, or 999 in an emergency
Where to report: Police Scotland 101; 7726; report@phishing.gov.uk.
Northern Ireland, and new arrivals anywhere in the UK
People in Northern Ireland use Report Fraud, the same as England and Wales [4]. New arrivals on work or study visas are a known target wherever they live: the Home Office says fraudsters call students and workers claiming there is a serious problem with their visa and demanding urgent payment to stop deportation [16].[4][16]
- The Home Office never asks for money by phone, email or in person; check your status yourself on gov.uk
- Report such calls to Report Fraud
Where to report: Report Fraud; police 101.
Where to report a scam in the United Kingdom
Channels named on official pages, checked on 22 October 2026.
| Situation | Channel | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Money has left your account | Your bank at once, on the number on your card or 159; claim reimbursement within 13 months | City of London Police; PSR |
| Fraud or cyber crime in England, Wales or Northern Ireland | Report Fraud: reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 (replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025) | GOV.UK; Report Fraud |
| Fraud or cyber crime in Scotland | Police Scotland on 101 | NCSC |
| A scam email | Forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk | NCSC |
| A scam text or call | Forward the text to 7726; for a call, text “Call” and the number to 7726 | NCSC; City of London Police |
| A message or call using HMRC’s name | phishing@hmrc.gov.uk; texts to 60599 | HMRC |
| An investment, pension or crypto offer | FCA on 0800 111 6768 or its online form | FCA |
| A shopping or consumer scam | Citizens Advice consumer helpline 0808 223 1133 (Welsh 0808 223 1144); it passes reports to Trading Standards | Citizens Advice |
| Forced work, a taken passport or a growing debt to an employer | Fair Work Agency on 0800 432 0804 or contact@fairworkagency.gov.uk; 999 in an emergency | Fair Work Agency |
| Someone offering illegal work or fake visas | Home Office: report an immigration or border crime on gov.uk | GOV.UK |
Call your bank first, within minutes if you can. Banks, the police, HMRC and the Home Office never ask you to move money to a safe account, hand over cards or pay a fee by phone, so treat anyone who does, or who offers to recover your money for a fee, as part of the scam.
Offered a UK job from the Gulf or South Asia? Checks before you pay anything
Many of our readers work in the Gulf or live in South Asia and receive UK job offers with “visa sponsorship”. The rules make most fake offers easy to spot. A UK employer that sponsors a worker must hold a sponsor licence and appear on the government’s register of licensed sponsors, which the government updates regularly, most recently on 22 October 2026 [17]. The employer pays the certificate of sponsorship fee and the immigration skills charge itself, and can lose its licence if it asks the worker to pay [18]. Since 22 July 2025, care worker and senior care worker jobs can no longer be sponsored for people applying from outside the UK [19], so an offer of a care job with a visa from abroad is a warning sign. The British High Commission in Dhaka has warned that there is no such thing as an “employee registration fee” for a UK visa [23].
- Search the exact company name on the gov.uk register of licensed sponsors: workers [17]
- Refuse any fee for a job, a certificate of sponsorship or a “work permit”; pay your own visa costs only on GOV.UK or its official partner sites [16] [18]
- Apply for the visa yourself on gov.uk; official Home Office emails end in @homeoffice.gov.uk [16]
- Do not accept a care worker job “with visa” if you are applying from abroad [19]
- Seasonal farm work goes only through the licensed scheme operators listed on gov.uk; there is no fee for the sponsorship certificate and they do not send offers by WhatsApp or Telegram [20]
Already in the UK and the job is not what you were promised
If your employer or agent takes your passport, withholds your wages, makes you live in accommodation you cannot leave, or makes you work to pay off a debt that keeps growing, these are signs of serious labour exploitation. Report it to the Fair Work Agency, the government body that enforces workers’ rights: online, by email to contact@fairworkagency.gov.uk or on 0800 432 0804, free, with an interpreter if you need one, and it does not share your details with the people you report [21]. Problems with pay, such as not getting the National Minimum Wage, go through its pay and work rights complaint form [21]. In an emergency, call 999.
If the scam happened while you were working in the Gulf
If a recruiter or employer in the Gulf cheated you, for example with a fake UK job sold from the UAE or Saudi Arabia, you can also complain where it happened. Our scam guides for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, linked below, list each country’s channels in full.
- UAE: the MOHRE app or website, or the Labour Claims and Advisory Centre on toll-free 80084; u.ae lists the signs of labour and visa fraud [25], [24]
- Saudi Arabia: HRSD’s amicable settlement service through Qiwa or the unified number 19911; domestic workers through Musaned [26], [27]
- Qatar: the Ministry of Labour’s Unified Complaints and Disputes Platform; 16505 for fraud or requests for unofficial payments [28], [29]
- Oman: the Ministry of Labour’s free labour complaints e-service or 80077000 [30]
- Kuwait: the Public Authority for Manpower’s labour complaint service, which is separate from reporting a violation [31]
- Bahrain: Ministry of Labour complaints on 17873637 or 17873919; for exploitation or trafficking, the LMRA hotline 995 [32], [33]
If you have lost money: the first hour
Speed matters, because stolen money is moved on quickly. Since 7 October 2024, banks and payment firms must reimburse most victims who were tricked into sending a Faster Payments or CHAPS transfer, up to £85,000, usually within five business days; a bank may apply an excess of up to £100, but not to vulnerable customers, and you should claim within 13 months of the last payment [12].
- Call your bank on the number on your card or 159, and ask it to stop the payment and start a reimbursement claim
- Report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online, or to Police Scotland on 101, and keep the crime reference number
- Keep screenshots, links, phone numbers, account details and receipts
- Do not pay anyone who promises to recover your money; the FCA calls these recovery room scams [10]
Six habits that stop most of these scams
The warnings from the police, the NCSC, the FCA, HMRC and the Home Office come down to a few rules.
- Never move money to a “safe account” and never hand cards or cash to a courier
- Never share a one-time passcode, PIN or password, whoever asks
- Do not click links in unexpected texts or emails; go to the website or app yourself
- Hang up and call back on a number you have checked yourself; caller ID can be faked
- Check investment firms on the FCA Firm Checker and UK employers on the register of licensed sponsors
- Never pay first to get a job, a visa, a loan, a prize or your own money back