Campaign

We are proud to be supporting Take Five to Stop Fraud with their campaign, the Cost of Living Challenge. With the increase in the cost of household bills, falling for a fraud or a scam may hit people that much harder, particularly as the potential impact could leave them short on everyday essentials such as their food shopping or utility bills.

Criminals are tapping into people’s financial concerns by offering fake energy saving devices or supermarket vouchers (purchase scams), impersonating trusted organisations such as retailers, government departments and utility companies (impersonation fraud), convincing people to move their money into a fictitious fund (investment fraud), and enticing people to pay an upfront fee in order to receive a prize or loan which never materialise (payment in advance fraud) to name but a few.

We want to ensure people stay safe from criminals who will be taking advantage of the current situation for their own financial gain. With fraud becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard to spot, especially when legitimate organisations are impersonated, everyone needs to be on their guard to ensure that they remember to Stop, Challenge, and Protect to keep themselves and their money safe. Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

If you think you may have fallen for a scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Police Scotland directly by calling 101 or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000.