In the first half of 2024 over £570 million was stolen by criminals through fraud. Now a new campaign is warning those who speak English as a second language to stay alert to fraudulent requests for their money and personal information.
Research by the Take Five campaign reveals that almost three quarters (73%) of people who speak English as a second language have faced criminals trying to trick them into sharing their financial or personal information in 2024.
To help support those with English as a second language, Take Five has translated its ‘Stop, Challenge and Protect’ advice into Urdu and Punjabi. Urdu and Punjabi were selected as they are two of the most-widely spoken foreign languages in the UK.
Criminals may try to deceive you into making payments to them. They may also try to trick you into sharing your information with them – such as your name, date of birth, address, bank account details, passwords or passcodes.
The public are encouraged to pause before making decisions, challenge suspicious communications, and protect themselves and others by reporting any fraud to their bank.
The research also found that while most people surveyed were aware of the risks of fraud, they were not all aware of where it most commonly occurs. Less than half (48 %) of those who speak English as a second language believe criminals would use messages or posts on social media to trick people into sending them money.
However UK Finance figures show that nearly three quarters (72 %) of all authorised push payment fraud cases are enabled by online sources.
For more information, visit: takefive-stopfraud.org.uk
