Protect yourself from fraud

Fraud can present itself under many guises and with scams becoming more sophisticated, it’s important to stay alert and familiarise yourself with the tactics used.

Common scams:

From scam texts to fake social media adverts, it’s important to protect yourself and know the signs to look out for.

Phishing is a cybercrime in which disreputable companies gather people’s personal details and then use these details to commit various types of fraud. 

Induced accidents or ‘crash for cash’ are where a fraudster intentionally causes a traffic accident, just to make a string of insurance claims afterwards. 

Identity theft occurs when someone uses another’s personally identifying information, such as their name, identifying number, or credit card number without their permission to commit fraud or other crimes. 

Ghost broking is a type of fraud where a consumer is sold a fake insurance policy by a criminal. Ghost broking scams can work in different ways.

Scams come in all shapes and sizes but always look for these very common signs:

Here are some very common signs:

1. Bad grammar
Look out for bad grammar and sentences that don’t make sense. Communications that are poorly written are a sign that it’s fraudulent.

2. No personalisation
Most reputable companies will address you by your real name. Suspicious communications may be more generic or even use the incorrect name.

3. Requests for personal information
If you are suspicious of a communication, don’t click on any links, give any details or engage in any way. Check with the company in question to verify the communication.

What to do if you think you are a victim of fraud

For an insurance policy or claim you are involved in, report it to your insurance company, or the other insurer involved.

If you hear of information about insurance fraud, but unrelated to a policy or claim you are involved in, contact Cheatline or call 0800 422 0421 to make an anonymous report.

To report all other types of fraud, unrelated to insurance, contact Action Fraud at or call 0300 123 2040.