Online fraud: recognise it, stop it, report it

The highest individual losses come from fake investment platforms. Victims are recruited through social media adverts, messaging groups or a contact who has cultivated the relationship for weeks, then shown a dashboard displaying steady gains that exist only as numbers on a screen.

The mechanism that confirms the fraud is the withdrawal: a request triggers a 'tax', 'fee' or 'compliance deposit' that must be paid first. Legitimate platforms deduct fees from the balance. Any regulated firm can also be checked on your national financial regulator's public register before a single payment.

Romance fraud runs for months and rarely starts with a money request. The relationship is built first, often with an explanation for never meeting, and the first financial approach is small and linked to a crisis such as a medical bill or a blocked account.

Requests escalate, and many cases end by merging into investment fraud: the partner introduces a trading platform they claim to use. The reliable check is behavioural — inability to video-call spontaneously, plus any request for money, is sufficient reason to stop regardless of how long you have talked.

Classified-ad platforms host two mirrored scams. Buyers pay for goods that never arrive, and sellers are sent a fake payment link to 'release' funds, which instead collects their card details or authorises a charge.

No genuine payment system requires the seller to enter card details or a PIN in order to receive money. Keep communication and payment inside the platform, refuse to move to a messaging app, and be suspicious of any buyer offering to overpay or arrange their own courier.

Impersonation scams use authority and fear. A caller claims to be from your bank's fraud team, a police unit or a technology company, reports that your account or computer is compromised, and offers to help you secure it.

The requests that follow are always the same three: install remote-access software, read out a code, or move money to a 'safe account'. No bank, police force or technology company ever asks for any of them. Hang up, wait a minute, and call back on a number from your card or the official website.

Contact your bank immediately and ask for the payment to be recalled and the card or account blocked. Card payments and instant transfers have very different reversal prospects, but speed improves both, and many banks have a dedicated fraud line answered around the clock.

Then secure the accounts involved: change passwords, remove any remote-access software installed during the call, enable two-factor authentication, and check for new payees, forwarding rules or devices added to your accounts.

Report to your national fraud or cybercrime reporting service and to the platform where the contact began. Reports rarely recover money individually, but they are what makes patterns visible and platforms accountable.

Be aware of recovery fraud: victims are frequently approached later by people claiming to retrieve lost funds for an upfront fee. No legitimate recovery service works that way, and the contact details usually come from lists sold between fraud groups.