What steps can I take to protect myself from scams?

MSE_Laura_F

In general, what are some steps I can take to protect myself from scams?

MSE_Katie

Transcript of the video above:

So there are some really easy rules of thumb that you can remember to try and protect yourself from being scammed. First of all, my golden rule: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Now that might be because it's cheaper than you've seen it elsewhere, or it's seemingly available when it isn't elsewhere. So these kinds of things are little signs to you that you might not be looking at a legitimate website or retailer.

Secondly, I'd always take another look at exactly where you're trying to buy from. That might be looking at the email sender, or looking at the website address bar a little bit more carefully. Scammers are really sophisticated. They can spoof real retailers and they can be very convincing. By looking at these things, you can get a better picture of whether it's not quite what it appears to be. Lastly, only scammers use really, really aggressive rush tactics to get you to buy things without really thinking about it. So if you're set deadlines or given a countdown clock or told that you need to hurry because there's only some of them left, then you might be wanting to think, 'is this a scam or is this real?' It is quite difficult because real retailers also try and get you to purchase quite quickly. But you will notice that scammers are a little bit more aggressive about it.

And finally, if you're really in doubt, but you do want to give it a go, make sure you protect yourself. If you use a credit card and it costs over £100 and under £30,000, you'll benefit from extra legal protection called Section 75. And you can find out more about that on the website.