Citizens Advice: How to avoid scams and fake sales this New Year

Avoiding scams is always difficult – but there seem to be more than ever around in the New Year. Chief reporter Adrian Williams spoke to Citizens Advice East Berkshire (CAEB) about what pitfalls to watch out for as January comes.

Bethan Jarvis, CAEB’s advice session supervisor, has probably heard of just about every scam there is around – and most of them over and over again.

“It is important to remember that scams are common – about one in three adults gets scammed at some time or another,” she said.

“Scams have not just a financial impact but actually a huge emotional impact on people. They don’t want to tell anyone even though they’re not to blame.

“In hindsight, it’s crystal clear – but scammers get more and more sophisticated.”

Some common scams around new year include:

• Fake holiday and hotel bookings
• Pretend discounts on products
• Online shopping sites that don’t deliver the goods
• Inheritance scams – saying a distant relative has died and left you money
• DPD or mail scams – saying something has been delivered when nothing has
• Fake texts from purported loved ones needing assistance
• Disreputable door-to-door salesmen
• Romance scams

Personal/relationship scams

Romance scams involve a scammer getting to know someone, perhaps on a dating site, with the intention of getting them to fork over money.

Though these can happen any time of year, Bethan said the scammers will strike and start asking for money in the festive period because it can be a lonely time of year for some.

Texts to or from ‘mum’ or ‘dad’ can also be scammers. They may say they have run out of money while out, or lost their phone, and need help.

The urgency of this request can make loved ones more vulnerable to this.

Overall, any scams that are about personal relationships can be hard to overcome.

“If someone has fallen in love, they believe [what that person is telling them],” said Bethan. “It’s their raison d’être – why would they not believe it?”

These are hard to guard against, but Bethan said to be wary of anyone you have not met asking for money.

“Generally, until you know someone, they don’t ask for money,” she said.

Other tip-offs involve if they are living abroad or claim to have sick family members in need of help – common scammer claims.

Sales/bargains scams

New year can see a rush of people wanting to make use of discounts on items for sale.

Some of these are being sold on disreputable sites that take the money and never send the item.

What many people don’t know, said Bethan, is that money lost this way can be recovered by your bank, up to a point. Many people do not even know to ask, she said.

Meanwhile, another very common form of deception also ramps up in the new year – claiming that certain goods are discounted, sometimes by hundreds of pounds.

“It’s not like the old days, where on Boxing Day there really was a big sale. There’s no such thing now – everyone’s got a sale on at one time or another,” she said.

“It’s very difficult to establish what the usual retail value of an item is. It might say ‘reduced from £799 to £599’ but when was it ever £799?”

Shoppers should ignore dramatic claims of huge price reductions and shop around to see what the average price actually is.

Delivery/official messages scams

A common scam is a message from DPD saying a parcel has been delivered and you must click a link to pick it up.

DPD has its own app and tracking processes are often available from the websites where products are bought from.

In most cases, scams can be averted if they appear to come from a loved one or an official organisation by contacting them on their known phone numbers to double-check.

How to respond to a scam

The most important thing is to come forward and report scams to Action Fraud.

Often people are hobbled by embarrassment – but Bethan highlighted that scams can happen to anyone, including members of the CAEB team, who know more than most.

“Everybody here has been scammed,” she said. “I got scammed by a builder.

“Scammers pray on vulnerability, not stupidity. They prey on necessity and they prey on emotions.”

Citizens Advice is always looking for volunteers. There is an array of opportunities, including reception and admit support.

For those interested in being advisers, there are from-home training modules and taster days, where those interested can come in and see what CAEB does.

Bethan said being at Citizens’ Advice brings her ‘great pride.’

“It’s so rewarding and it makes you much more socially aware,” she said.