A romance scam victim, a fraud expert and the writers of a new BBC thriller explain how gaslighting is used to cheat people out of their money.

Read more

Phishing scams that try to trick you into putting your real password into a fake site have been around for decades.

Read more

To help HMRC investigations, report all HMRC related phishing emails and bogus text messages to HMRC. Even if you get the same or similar phishing email or text message often, email it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not open attachments or click any links in an email or text message, as they may contain malicious software or direct you to a bogus website.

See further examples here

'I’m writing this to illustrate that the best phishing attacks will look very convincing. Often people are told to watch out for poor grammar and formatting to protect against phishing. This will work in some cases, but not in cases like the one I’m about to show. Sophisticated scammers use good English and pattern-match with legitimacy.'

Read more

Here is an example of how scammers will try to persuade you to part with a smalller amount of money in return for a significant amount.

Read more here

Each year in the UK more than three million people lose hundreds, or thousands, of pounds when they become victims of scams.

This costs UK consumers £3.3 billion a year, though it's estimated that just 5% are reported (Citizens Advice Bureau, 2014).

Many scammers operate online using bogus emails, so what can you do to make sure you don't become an online crime statistic?

Click here for the interactive resource