How to recognize a scam
Knowing what to be on the lookout for when it comes to scams is one of the best ways to protect yourself.

Unsolicited or unexpected contact. If you have received any kind of contact, but particularly a phone call, out of the blue, it is best to avoid it. Since January 2019, there has been a ban on cold calling about pensions. This means you should not be contacted by any company about your pension unless you’ve asked them to.

Email address. If you get an email, expand the pane at the top of the message and see exactly who it has come from. If it is a scam, the email address the message has come from will be filled in with random numbers, or be misspelled.

Is it a scam?
The FCA’s ScamSmart website has a tool to help you check if an investment or pension opportunity is a scam.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This is something you normally find with pension or investment scams, where the fraudster guarantees you huge returns, but tells you it is low risk.
Personal details, PIN codes and passwords. These are things no legitimate company will ask you for.
Quick decisions. If you are pushed into making a decision on the spot, be suspicious. Scammers don’t want you to have time to think about it.
Random competitions, particularly if you don’t remember entering them, should ring alarm bells.
You can find a more comprehensive list of the warning signs for specific types of scams on this page.
How to protect yourself against scams
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Did you know?
Scammers can hijack phone lines. If you think you’re being targeted, hang up the phone, wait five minutes and then call your bank directly. Find out more what you can do to stop fraud on the Take Five website.

The next step to avoiding scams is to know how to protect yourself. While some of these are good advice in general, many are aimed at keeping you safe online:

Avoid any unexpected contact. Any phone calls, letters, emails or people knocking on your door should be ignored.
Never give out personal information. This can be used to steal your identity and access accounts.
Keep operating system and virus protection software up-to-date. Don’t ignore updates as these can often include patches to protect against new kinds of scams, viruses and ransomware. This goes for mobile devices as well.
Make sure all accounts have a strong password. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts and change them regularly.
Don’t make any advanced payments until you are sure the company you’re dealing with is legitimate.
If you’re unsure about a financial services company, check the FCA register of regulated companies. If they’re not on it, don’t have anything to do with them.
If you’re unsure about any other kind of company, you can look them up on Companies House to find out their background, or search for reviews online.
Use safe and secure WiFi connections and avoid public WiFi. Your standard 3G or 4G connection is often more secure than the one in the coffee shop or restaurant.
Make sure any websites you are using are secure. Check to see if the web address starts with HTTPS, not just HTTP.

Sign-up for a call blocking service like the Telephone Preference Service. This might not stop all scam calls as they operate outside the legal guidelines, but it will stop cold-callers. This means any suspicious or unexpected calls you do receive are almost certainly from people you don’t want to deal with.