Scam Awareness Fortnight 2023 (SAF23) – Spotting & Reporting Scams

Scam Awareness Fortnight (SAF23), a national campaign to protect the general public from scams, will be launched in mid-June.

According to research published in September 2022 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Action Fraud (the public-facing national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre) received 11% fewer notifications of fraud offences in 2021-22 compared with the previous year, when offences were at record levels.

Though these figures are encouraging, they cannot be seen as indicating a permanent reversal in trends towards more scam victims every year.

The ONS also noted that fraud offences in general increased by 25% (to 4.5 million offences) compared with the previous year, driven by large increases in "advance fee fraud" and "consumer and retail fraud".

Further, they noted that the proportion of fraud incidents that were cyber-related increased from 53% in 2019-20 to 61% the following year suggesting that much of the increase in fraud offences was because of a rise in cyber-related fraud connected to behavioural changes driven by pandemic impacts.

Reporting is still an issue. Avoiding scams is a relentless year-round challenge. Below are some tips to help you spot and report scams.

How to Spot Scams – and what to do about it

Everyone, without exception, is vulnerable to one or other scam. But there are some simple rules to live by (and share) to give yourself the best chance of avoiding being scammed.

1. Don’t fall for high pressure selling techniques. Never be hurried into making a snap decision when spending money.
2. If you are offered a deal that seems ‘too good to be true’ it probably is – leave it alone.
3. Don’t make decisions on the doorstep with ‘traders’ you don’t know. They can leave their details and you can have them checked out.
4. Never provide personal details to people or organisations you don’t know, or even to organisations you do know if they are requesting information online they have never asked for before.
5. Always check the ID of doorstep callers. Never take strangers’ views on trust when they are trying to separate you from your money, possessions or personal details.

How to Report Scams

The best way to combat scammers is to forewarn others.

If you are made aware of a scam please report it to the Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 (lines are open Mon-Friday between 9am-5pm) or at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/.

If you are the victim of a scam please report your experience to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at www.actionfraud.police.uk/.

If you think you are in the process of being scammed, and have the opportunity, call the Police on 999. Don’t let scammers off the hook.

Further Information

If you want to know more about any of the above visit the Citizens Advice website at  www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/our-work/our-campaigns/awareness-raising-campaigns/scams-awareness-campaign-2022/advice-on-scams/ or try your own local council website.

If you want to be more active, personally, in fighting scams visit www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/ and see about becoming a ScamChampion.

If you want to keep up to date with local scams contact your local Council and ask them to sign you up to their email scam alerts.

Finally, if you want to know more about this year’s campaign, please put Scam Awareness Fortnight 2023 into your internet browser or contact your local Citizens Advice office for details.

Our thanks to Coventry Citizens Advice (CCA) for submitting this article to us. For more information, contact your local CA offices or visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk.