Scam Secrets

Being scammed once can be a devastating, life-changing experience. But the criminals we hear about on Scam Secrets don't care about that. They'll often come back for more, with bogus offers to help you get your money back. It's known as recovery fraud, and its impact can be worse than the original crime. Often the criminals will be the same ones that stole your money in the first place. More than...

Being sent a shiny new phone when you weren't expecting one sounds great - but it most likely isn't. In this episode, the Scam Secrets team investigate mobile handset fraud - a widespread scam whereby criminals gain access to your telecoms account, then order new phones or tablets once inside. Shari Vahl, Elisabeth Carter and Alex Wood hear from two listeners who thought they were dealing with the...

What's the name of your first pet? If a question like that holds the key to your email inbox, it might be time to beef up your security. In this episode, Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood talk about why our emails are so valuable to scammers, and hear some of the terrible things criminals will do if they can get inside. From booking a holiday to intercepting the proceeds of a house sale, the...

Your relative is in the grip of a scam. You can see it - but they can't. Would you know what to do? It's a situation you never want to find yourself in. And if you do, it can be hard knowing where to turn and how to help. This episode is inspired by the emails we've received from people whose friends and relatives are being scammed. With the help of two experts who deal with this question every da...

Do you scan QR codes? Since Covid, they've become embedded in many aspects of our lives. But perhaps we're a bit too trusting of them. On this episode, Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood hear how criminals are finding different ways to exploit those little black and white squares. Two Scam Secrets listeners give their experience - Les, who scanned a QR code while trying to pay for parking on...

What really happens when you report a scam? In this special episode, Shari takes a trip behind the scenes at the fraud reporting service for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For years, this was called Action Fraud - and victims often complained about the way they were dealt with when they tried to report what had happened to them. Since the start of the year, there's been a new system in place...

Have you ever been desperately trying to contact a company to complain about shoddy service? Or needed to cut through the automated responses and speak to a human who can help? Most of us have - and the criminals have latched onto it. Scam Secrets takes a journey into the world of customer service scams. Criminals pose on social media as respected brands, going out of their way to help. They'll ev...

Scam Secrets is back with a close look at deepfakes. Lots of the stories we hear involve victims being lured into scams by fake videos or photos of trusted people. Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood hear what happened when a listener confronted the man stealing from her mother during a live video call where he was pretending to be her lover. YouTube scam-baiter Jim Browning joins the programm...

An old friend is posting about how well his investments are doing - and he's offering you the chance to get involved too. Would you know what to do? In this final episode of the series, the Scam Secrets team unpick a fraud which ripped through a group of close mates. One by one, their Instagram accounts were infiltrated as, believing they were chatting to a friend, they handed over their login det...

A roofer's at your door - they've spotted a couple of loose tiles and they can fix them straight away. It's only a quick job. Would you know what to do? Almost all of the scams we've dissected so far have been done remotely - on the phone, by text or online. But what if the criminal is standing right in front of you - perhaps even inside your home? That's what the Scam Secrets team are looking at...

A group of young jobseekers are gathered outside a dental surgery in West London, nervously waiting for a trial shift for the job they've just applied for. But as time ticks on, they realise there is no shift. In fact there is no job. But it gets much worse - their identities have all been stolen. Shari Vahl and the Scam Secrets team hear from one of those people, Joe. For him, the real impact of...

If you buy from a website that turns out to be fake and run by criminals, your first thought is probably about the money you've parted with. But that's not all they're after. Because you're also handing over personal data that can be far more lucrative than whatever you paid for the rubbish clothes that you're left with. In this episode, Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood revisit the Great Kn...

You've been invited onto a well-known podcast (not this one). They'll even pay you to take part. Would you know what to do? Shari Vahl, Alex Wood and Dr Lis Carter unravel an elaborate scam that's aimed at people and organisations with a big social following. They hear from a dog groomer who was tricked into handing over her Facebook account by an extremely convincing-sounding invitation to appear...

You've booked a holiday and the hotel gets in touch to ask for a payment to confirm your booking. They know your name and they've got all the details of your reservation. Would you know what to do? In this episode, people using booking.com are targeted by a hard-to-spot scam where official-looking messages arrive, asking for payment. Needless to say, that payment doesn't go to the hotel. But how d...

Whether we're chatting, texting, buying or dating, the tech services we all use are being abused by criminals to worm their way into our lives. So what are these huge businesses doing to keep us safe? In this episode of Scam Secrets recorded at the United Nations Global Fraud Summit in Vienna, some of the biggest names in consumer tech chat to Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood about the thre...

A message pops up. It's a scam, you can spot that. But who sent it? Where in the world did it come from? And how has it ended up in your inbox? For this special episode of Scam Secrets, the team visit the United Nations Global Fraud Summit in Vienna. Pretty much everyone engaged in the world fight against scams is there too, from politicians and police to the biggest tech companies on the planet....

Scam Secrets is back with a close look at a disturbing and emerging scam technique that can totally clean out its victims. In a hybrid scam - or pig butchering, as the criminals describe it - the manipulation reaches new levels as investment and romance scams are combined. Shari Vahl, criminal language expert Dr Lis Carter and former fraudster Alex Wood hear from Catherine, whose father was target...

It's coming up to Christmas, and you might have gift cards on your mind. The perfect present choice for many scenarios - but also the perfect weapon for criminals. In 2023, Action Fraud got more than 6,000 crime reports about gift cards. More than £13 million was stolen. So what turns these versatile gifts into gold dust for criminals? That's what Shari Vahl, Elisabeth Carter and Alex Wood will be...

WhatsApp is part of our daily lives – and criminals know how to weaponise that trust. In this episode, Shari Vahl and the team hear how a devastatingly simple trick handed the keys for a Scam Secrets listener's WhatsApp account to a scammer. Along with expert linguist Dr Elisabeth Carter and former criminal Alex Wood, Shari finds out what the hacker did next - and how an old friend was tricked int...

You might be on the lookout for work - so when a message arrives with a job offer, the timing is perfect. This is what happens to the people who are drawn in by the fake recruitment text scam that has been bombarding people's phones. Shari Vahl, Dr Elisabeth Carter and Alex Wood hear how one man was lured in with promises of payment for simple tasks - then trapped in a cycle of payments and false...

You've just been scammed. The red flags didn't work this time and criminals have stolen your money. Your mind's all over the place. Will you ever see that cash again? In this special episode of Scam Secrets, Shari Vahl and a cast of experts walk you through the process so you know your rights. She'll point out the factors that improve your chances of a refund - as well as the dreaded circumstances...

You've probably got the scam Winter Fuel Payment text at least once. You might well have ignored it. But what happens when the criminals hit the jackpot, the circumstances fit, and you try to take up the offer? That's what happened to Peggy - and in this episode her experience is analysed by Scam Secrets regulars Shari Vahl, Dr Lis Carter and Alex Wood. With the help of a convincing but very fake...

A phone call from the police out of the blue. You want to help. Who wouldn't? Scam Secrets returns with the chilling story of an audacious scam that reached all the way to the doorstep of its victims. Jane and Neville were so convinced they were part of a police operation that they handed over their life savings - more than £670,000 - to criminals behind a scam known as courier fraud. Fraud invest...

Getting an unexpected phonecall can be unnerving. If it's from a bailiff saying he's coming to take your possessions and is 40 minutes away, it can be terrifying. In this episode, Shari Vahl and the Scam Secrets team hear from two people who were subjected to this scarily plausible scam. Linguistics expert Dr Lis Carter and former fraudster Alex Wood pick apart the language used, and explain how t...

Your phone pings - it's a loved one who needs your help. Would you know what to do? Lots of us have received the 'Hello Mum' text - sometimes it's dead easy to spot. But what if the circumstances fit, and they catch you completely unawares? In this episode, Shari Vahl, Alex Wood, and Dr Elisabeth Carter discuss how the scam, which preys on parental instinct and urgency, is getting increasingly cun...