A fifth (21%) of individuals have experienced someone trying to scam them out of their money, savings or investments. Nearly three quarters (71%) of these realised before it was too late, but 29% of those targeted lost money as a result.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults was conducted by WEALTH at work, a leading financial wellbeing and retirement specialist. It also revealed that even if they haven’t been targeted by a scam themselves, more than one in ten (12%) know someone who has been approached by a scammer, and more than half (58%) of these had actually lost money as a result.
WEALTH at work, has highlighted the common things people say when explaining why they fell for a scam so that people can be aware and avoid losing their money to fraudsters;
1. “They looked so professional” – Scams look and sound legitimate, which is why people are hoodwinked. They often have very professional looking websites and literature that can make it hard to distinguish from the real thing.
2. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity” – If an investment offers the opportunity of a lifetime, employees should be very suspicious. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
3. “They seemed so friendly and knew so much about me” – The people that run scams are clever and may have been able to get hold of an individual’s personal details. Employees should be aware to not let their knowledge and friendliness catch them off guard.
4. “If I didn’t decide…
