Consumers warned to avoid these four convincing scams

Britons are being warned about the most convincing scams being seen by consumer group Which? this year. The company said there are four believable scams to look out for in 2023 to ensure you don’t lose your money, explaining that consumers can protect themselves by signing up for scam alerts or seeking out expert advice.

- MARTHA MCHARDY

Lisa Barber, tech editor at Which?, said: “It’s appalling that 2023 has seen scammers continuing to thrive, as a new wave of convincing scams bombards consumers from every direction.”

The warning comes after the government published a new fraud strategy earlier this month, which includes banning cold calls on all financial products, such as those relating to insurance or sham cryptocurrency schemes.

The government also plans to work with advertising regulator Ofcom to use new technology to further clamp down on number “spoofing”, so fraudsters cannot impersonate legitimate UK phone numbers. Under the plans, banks will be allowed to delay the processing of payments for longer to allow for suspect transactions to be investigated.

Here are four scams to watch out for:

Pig butchering

These scams were given their name by fraudsters because they “fatten up” the victim by forming a romantic connection before executing the investment part of the scam.