Scam support

Scammers love jumping onto the latest trends, as we mention often, so it's no surprise that they do the same with trending companies, such as SpaceX, one of the biggest companies in the world, with it being worth over 2.7 TRILLION dollars - here is a real BBC News headline - 'Musk's SpaceX overtakes Amazon to become world's fifth most valuable firm'.

This type of scam is unfortunately a classic investment operation. This is a really difficult situation, but very common.

In fact, City of London Police confirmed that last year targets of investment fraud lost an average of £1,675 every minute, which is a huge amount of money.

How it usually goes is like this: the individual will be guided to sign up, usually on social media, to a trading website to 'get rich quick' through investing.

Here is an example of what a scam trading platform could look like, this is an example of one we have looked at in the past.

You will be shown how to deposit your money to begin investing, you usually put in your normal card details, and they will take a payment of something like £250.

Once you have made the first deposit, you will be able to see your investments on the website and will be able to see your money grow.

You will then get a call from your assigned 'account manager'. This person is intended to help encourage you with your growth and how well your investments are doing, and because you can physically see the growth on the website, it's tempting to put more money in.

So, the account manager will encourage you to make a larger deposit, maybe of £1000 this time, through a digital banking app in your own name. You will send money to that account and be encouraged to convert it into crypto or send it internationally. You will see that £1000 on the website and see your money grow even more.

However, in reality the website is fake, and you have just been sending money to the scammers directly. And it sounds like this is the exact situation that this viewer's brother is in.

One of the biggest tips I can give on investment scams is if you search the company on the Financial Conduct Authority register and the company is not there, they are not legitimate and you should never hand your money over to them, they are a criminal if they are not registered. We searched the FCA register, and Nightpips is not on there, so very likely a scam.

That's right, and it's still a part that a lot of people don't quite understand. Investment fraud and romance fraud are quite similar in how they work psychologically, they both play on human nature.

It isn't a simple case of deception. It's a carefully engineered emotional ambush, it uses our emotions and trust as a weapon against us.

When you start to build a connection in an investment scam, the chemicals in your body are already amplifying fear, love, hope, and that makes us seek relief, love and validation. With this new character, your brain, already in distress, floods with more chemicals that feel like connection: dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol, serotonin. This is not fantasy. It's neuroscience. And it makes it almost impossible to walk away, because your brain and body are already convinced this is real and love.

From the moment we're born, we're taught to trust those around us. Scammers don't need to work hard to build trust. They only need to imitate the signals we're already trained to respond to. And once those signals are triggered, we often comply without question.

Even when a warning bell rings, our minds override it with a chorus of rationalisation. Here's why:

Confirmation Bias: You find proof that it's a connection because you need it to be.

Sunk Cost Fallacy: You've already given too much to back out now.

Optimism Bias: You believe this won't end the way it did for others.

Similarity Bias: They're just like you-or so they've made you believe.

By the time the logic returns, it's already too late. You're not questioning them anymore, you're questioning yourself. So, when people say they don't understand how people get scammed, they are fundamentally missing the point of how scammers work.

It is a clever scam, and it's really tricky when someone is in denial about what is happening, and a really hard situation for a loved one to be in, but the best way to approach it is to not tell them that they are being scammed, you need to ask them questions to allow them to realise it.

For investment scams, they usually start on social media, so start by asking 'how did you find this opportunity'. They will most likely mention a social media platform, so follow up with 'what was it that made you think it was legitimate'. Keep asking questions that follow a similar pattern, completely non-judgemental; keep the questions empathetic. This will hopefully help them get a better understanding of what they're doing and allow them to realise for themselves that this is not legitimate.

Once you have got to that place, only then should you say, 'I agree that it is a scam', and you can start the process of contacting banks.

As we mention often, there is a lot of help out there if needed. Report Fraud is on 0300 123 2040 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, if you are in Scotland call 101. Victim Support is on 0808 1689 111 for those in England and Wales, 0800 160 1985 for those in Scotland, if you are in Northern Ireland you can visit the link below. Both of these organisations can support and help you report what has happened.

We haven't talked about postal scams in a long time, we focus on email scams and social media scams because they are on the rise, and we almost forget that postal scams still do exist.

DWP do send out these sorts of letters, and this is an example of a real one that DWP have sent us.

This is a phishing scam. A phishing scam letter is a fraudulent physical letter sent through the post by criminals pretending to be a legitimate organisation to steal your money or personal details, in this case, it sounded like they wanted personal details. By filling out the form, they would have everything they needed from you.

This is how they work:

Fake Identity: Fraudsters pretend to be trusted groups like banks, government departments (such as HMRC), utility companies, or prize draw agencies.

False Claims: The letters often claim you have won a lottery, owe money on an unpaid bill, or that an account is in danger.

Urgency or Greed: They create panic or excitement to stop you from thinking clearly.

Call to Action: They ask you to mail back personal details, send money, or call an expensive premium-rate phone number.

This individual did exactly the right thing by contacting the company the letter was claiming to be from directly. Never use the phone numbers listed on the suspicious letter. If you are worried a bill or account issue is real, find the official phone number from a trusted bill or the company's verified website.

You can report fraudulent mail and protect your local area through organisations like Report Fraud in the UK.