5 red flags of friendship scams to look out for

A bank has issued a warning about scammers who are exploiting people’s loneliness and desire for connection to trick them out of money.

TSB Bank revealed that its data shows the average loss per impersonation fraud case – where criminals pose as a person or organisation – is more than £3,100.

In one case, a customer in their late 60s was befriended on a message board by someone pretending to be a young person seeking financial help to escape an abusive family. This particular friendship scam continued for four years before it was reported and in that time 60 payments were made.

We spoke to Stephanie Harrison, fraud expert at TSB, to find out exactly what is involved in these types of friendship scams, and what key red flags we need to look out for…

What is friendship fraud – and who is being targeted?

“These types of scams are particularly cruel because the scammers tend to prey on older and more vulnerable people, and use that to build communication,” says Harrison. “They tend to speak for a little while, and then suddenly lead into asking for money and payments, and use a range of different tactics to get people to send them money.

“As we get older, our family and friendship circles change, so many older people might be more keen to have a conversation with somebody and have that companionship, so I think fraudsters take advantage of that and see it as a good hook to use and leverage to get money from these victims.”

What consequences can this have on victims?

“Putting aside the obvious financial element to this, the mental impacts of these types of scams can be massive,” says Harrison. “When people just wanted somebody to talk to and then have that trust completely broken by a scammer, it can be quite devastating.

“Victims might start to lose trust in their conversations and lose trust in their ability to speak to people, which can have a big impact on how they go forward when building relationships in future.”

Here are five warning signs to look out for…

1. Out of the blue message on social media

If you suddenly get a message from someone you don’t know on social media, be cautious.

“A lot of these scams are taking place on social media,” says Harrison. “Fraudsters will reach out to people on social media about common interests which act as a bit of a hook to get these conversations started.”

Setting up privacy settings on your social media account can help prevent random people from following and messaging you.

“Have a look at your social media privacy preferences and if you think that you potentially could be more vulnerable to being contacted by a scammer, see if you can make your account private and install any other privacy settings,” advises Harrison.

2. Reluctance to meet in person or to talk on a video call

“Think about what information they are sharing,” advises Harrison. “Can you validate who they say they are, depending on what they’re sharing with you?

“lf they are reluctant to either meet in person or video call or do something that’s hard to mimic, that’s a red flag.”

She highlights the importance of staying cautious and vigilant in a time where AI images are rife.

“No matter how friendly they sound online, just be mindful that everything that they’re telling you could be fake, even pictures they share with you,” says Harrison. “We know that many scammers are starting to use AI even more to mimic things, so it’s really important to question everything that they send to you.”

3. Gradual build up of trust and rapport

“In terms of tactics, fraudsters will often find out information about the victims and will use this to their advantage,” says Harrison. “They might emotively try to match the victim’s personality type to make it feel more genuine in terms of the relationship that they’re building.

“We have seen some cases where the scammer built up these relationships for years, so often it’s a long conversation before any money is brought up.”

4. Requests for bank transfers or gift cards

“If they start to ask for money, or start to make comments about needing funds, that is a clear red flag,” says Harrison. “The two main ways fraudsters usually request money in friendship fraud is via a direct transfer of funds or via gift cards.

“Remember that it doesn’t have to be a large-value amount of money to be a scam, they might instead ask for small amounts often.

“As soon as they ask for funds, pause and take a step back. Be really thoughtful and try to stop that conversation because that’s where it usually starts to go wrong.”

5. Time pressure

“Often the fraudsters will come up with some rushed reason and story as to why they need money fast, in a bid to apply pressure on victims to act fast,” highlights Harrison. “For example, in many cases it’s something along the lines of medical bills for a medical emergency.”

What should someone do if they have fallen for this type of scam?

“It’s important to report these scams to your bank as soon as possible to try and protect any further payments that are going out,” advises Harrison. “Also, make sure to report it to Action Fraud so that they can investigate this further.”