Luxury Vehicle Giveaway Facebook Scam
Fraudsters are exploiting Facebook to promote fake luxury vehicle giveaways, aiming to harvest personal and financial information from unsuspecting users. The scams often appear on pages like ‘Camper and RV World’, where users are encouraged to comment or click on links to enter a competition for a luxury vehicle. For instance, one post instructed users to type “@” and click highlight to enter, resulting in thousands of comments.
Once users engage, they are directed to websites that collect personal details under the guise of competition registration. These sites then redirect to ‘reward companies’ claiming to offer gift cards, such as a £100 Lidl voucher or a £750 Airbnb gift card. However, both Lidl and Airbnb have confirmed they are not affiliated with these sites or the gift cards offered.
The images used in these posts are often repurposed from other regions, such as Australia or the US, indicating a widespread scam operation. Victims may receive direct messages claiming they’ve won, urging them to complete registration to avoid disqualification.
If you’ve encountered such a scam, it’s crucial not to provide any personal information. Report the incident to Facebook and consider informing your bank if you’ve shared financial details.
- Report suspicious emails and websites to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) via https://report.ncsc.gov.uk/
- Report to Action Fraud: www.actionfraud.police.ukor call 0300 123 2040. They are the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Protect Your Pension from Fraud
Savers and those reaching retirement age are being warned to protect their pensions and look out for criminals trying to catch people out of their life savings, with Action Fraud revealing a total annual loss of £17,567,249. This equates to roughly £48,129 lost to this type of fraud per day in 2024. Data reveals there were 519 reports of pension fraud in total and £17,567,249 lost in 2024, with an average loss of £33,848 per person.
Action Fraud, with support from the Pension Scams Action Group (PSAG), launched a pension fraud awareness campaign, warning people to take extra measures to protect their pension scheme accounts and to be cautious of investment opportunity offers from criminals that could be targeting them .
How can you protect yourself against Pension fraud?
Secure your online pension account: the account you use to manage your pension should have a different password to all of your other accounts. Use three random words to create a strong and memorable password, and enable 2-step verification (2SV). www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/activate-2-step-verification-on-your-email
Ignore unsolicited calls about your pension: cold calling about pensions is illegal and likely a sign of a scam. If you’re thinking about changing your pension arrangements, you should get financial guidance or advice beforehand.
Investment opportunities: don’t be rushed into making an investment. Remember, legitimate organisations will never pressure you into investing on the spot.
You should treat investment opportunities with extreme caution if there’s:
- Pressure to invest (for example: time-limited offers).
- Downplayed risk of losing your money.
- Promised returns that sound too good to be true.
Remember to Stop! Think Fraud and find more information on how to protect yourself from fraud here: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk/
What can you do if you have been a victim of pension fraud?
Report pension scams: if you’re worried about a potential pension scam or you think you may have been contacted by a criminal, report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.
If you have made a payment: inform your bank or pension provider as soon as possible, they can help you prevent any further losses. Monitor your bank and pension statements regularly for any unusual activity.
If you have information about any crime call 101, email: 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. If you see crime taking place call 999.
WG Neighbourhood Watch Coordinators – Simon Baker & Philippa Lake