The five scams you’ve never heard of… but could get caught out by in 2024

Scammers continue to flout the law and target people with phone calls, texts, emails, social media requests and even letters.

Some are easily spotted from a mile away, with many of us having been contacted by a Nigerian prince needing help reclaiming his lost inheritance, or receiving a poorly worded email warning that there are at least 574 viruses on our PCs have been detected.

However, the vast majority are not so easy to spot, and fraudsters are constantly coming up with new ones.

According to research by Which? Shared exclusively with This is Money, there are five new scams people should pay close attention to this year.

Which? Consumer law expert Lisa Webb said: ‘Consumers can stay informed about the tactics used by fraudsters by signing up to our scam alerts service – which highlights the latest frauds.

‘The responsibility should not lie solely on the shoulders of the consumer. Technology platforms and the government need to up their game and better prevent scammers from reaching potential victims.”

Spearfishing

You may have heard of phishing scams, where scammers send out bulk emails purporting to be from reputable companies, including banks and government agencies, in the hope that a handful of people will ‘bite’.

But fraudsters are now using a more targeted approach known as ‘spear phishing’ according to Which?

They compromise victims’ data and use that personal information to conduct targeted attacks, convincing them that they are the real organization.

These attacks use data previously collected by scammers through massive data breaches, social media profiles, or previous scams.

The idea behind these scams is that the amount of research behind them makes victims believe that the email, text message or phone call must be legitimate.

But real organizations rarely use cold calling to request sensitive information from their customers, so if you’re unsure, hang up and call the company back on the official number.

Tap jacking

Scammers can now hijack your smartphone screen, forcing you to perform actions on your phone without you even realizing it.

Tapjacking works by displaying an overlay on your phone screen that appears clickable.

But in reality that is just an image, so you don’t see what you are actually tapping.

For example, in a mobile game it may appear as if you are interacting with game elements, but in fact your clicks are making in-app purchases or signing up for a subscription through an invisible screen below the overlay.

Which? recommends sticking to apps downloaded from sources like the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and reading reviews before installing.

Quishing

Another phishing spin-off, quishing, sees scammers using the QR code technology we’ve all come to take for granted following its mass prevalence in restaurants and bars during the Covid pandemic.

Scammers use QR codes to direct victims to fake login pages, where they can obtain your details or unknowingly trick you into signing up for an expensive subscription.

In some cases, these QR codes are sent via email disguised as legitimate communications, often via previously compromised email addresses.

But there are also reports of fake QR codes being stuck on parking meters, leading victims to fake apps and then signing up for expensive subscriptions.

AI and deepfake scams

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence in recent years has changed the landscape for scammers, allowing them to impersonate real voices and even faces.

As AI continues to improve, so do the tools scammers have at their disposal.

These scams are increasingly being used to spread disinformation, with scammers using AI or deepfake videos to pose as trusted sources.

In January, the Guardian found more than 100 deepfake videos of Rishi Sunak linked to a fake BBC News page promoting a fake investment.

With a general election set to take place in Britain in 2024, it is possible that there will be an increase in AI and the spread of pervasive false disinformation on social media.

According to Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, it will install labels to inform users if a video has been detected as AI.

Online advertisements

Last year, the Online Safety Bill was passed into law, but has not yet fully come into effect.

The law will mean that major online platforms will become responsible for illegal content hosted on their sites, including scam advertisements.

For now, however, there appears to have been little change according to Which?

Telltale signs of scam ads are offers that seem too good to be true (and they are) and links that don’t match the ad served.

For example, an ad may be copied from an existing ad, but the web address is fake.