Ask your fraud and scam questions to Take Five to Stop Fraud representative and Senior Fraud Prevention Officer Tony Blake - chance to win £150 voucher! NOW CLOSED

How can we best protect against identity theft?

It happened to a friend several years ago and she was shocked to the core that it could have happened, and then devastated at the amount of time and effort required to sort things out.

Many thanks.

Three nights ago my autistic 13 yr old grandson saw a pop up on the computer saying you have a virus phone this number. He did. Later he was very upset and told us,about it. All he can tell us is the call lasted 18 mins, he gave them all our passwords and he had to press the keys on the computer. We have changed the passwords. What are they actually after with this and what else can we do now?

I've been reading about Open Banking. I can see that for some people, it could be useful to allow various companies to use banking transactions, to search for better deals on utilities for example.
I'm assuming this won't pose any security threat, however, I can see that my data is now becoming a commodity.
I'm not too keen on sharing my data at the moment, but that could change. Are there any steps I can take to make sure I'm safe if I chose to share?

I'm very wary about letting people such as utilities representatives into my house. Recently we had a man come to 'read the meters'. I asked for ID and he brandished the badge he had around his neck on a lanyard. This read that he represented Morrisons, a company that must be subcontracted to do the readings. As he had the necessary key to open the external box to our electricity meter I assumed he was bona fide. The gas meter is indoors so he had to access my home. I thought afterwards that it is probably not difficult to obtain one of the keys to utilities boxes (we have one of our own) and that anyone could fake a badge. It turned out he was genuine but should I have been more cautious? How careful should one be without appearing paranoid?

How secure is the virus protection that comes with some broadband Companies I have McCafee (?) included in my bundle but have had a much more effective one added by my supergeek man as he told me the ones supplied in the bundle are very weak.

We keep getting Skype calls coming through on our laptop, even though it’s not an application we use. We’ve now uninstalled the program, but why would we be getting these, is it part of a scam?

I have bought some vitamins over the phone with a company, gave them debit card number, and 3 digit number on the back. Although I got my order, I am worried that my details are 'out there' how do I know my card will not be used by someone at the company without my knowledge, I am now checking all my transactions every day. I want to be able to buy things over the phone but am worried about fraud.

Where’s the first port of call when you realise you have been a victim of fraud?

If your bank called you how do you know its them?

Ask your fraud and scam questions

I recently bought a mattress from a mobility company on ebay which was supposed to be for an adjustable bed. When they delivered it & had left I saw the label & realised it was not the one I had paid for. I checked & it was £200 cheaper than the one I had paid for. I contacted them & they said it was a genuine mistake but it was definitely for an adjustable bed so I could keep it & they would refund the difference. I trusted them but the mattress doesn't move with the base. I've contacted them since & they refused to believe me saying all memory foam mattresses were suitable for adjustable beds. I contacted lots of places & they said that's not true. I have had to buy another mattress since & still haven't got my money back from this company. I have threatened them with Trading Standards & reporting them to ebay but they don't seem to care. I have since found out that no memory foam mattresses are suitable for my bed as it is a Craftmatic which they obviously knew when they delivered the mattress as they took away the original Craftmatic mattress so does this class as fraud & what steps can I take to get my money back

My bank keep ringing and we always read about not giving out details but the first thing they want is details for security and DP reasons when they called me! The branch don't have access to see if they called and I feel nervous - is it a scam? How should I handle such calls

Contact Citizens Advice consumer helpline
Citizens Advice consumer helpline: 03454 04 05 06
Textphone: 18001 03454 04 05 06
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
To contact a Welsh-speaking adviser: 03454 04 05 05
Textphone to contact a Welsh-speaking adviser: 18001 03454 04 05 05
Closed on bank holidays

Calls to the helpline cost up to 9p per minute from a landline. If you're calling from a mobile, it'll cost between 3p and 40p per minute - if you have inclusive minutes, it's the same as calling a landline. Find out more about call charges on GOV.UK.

An adviser will answer your call as soon as possible, usually within a few minutes. Once you're speaking to an adviser your call should take an average of 8 to 10 minutes.

What's the best way to tell if an email from my bank is fake or not?

How do I know if my landline is shared with someone else?

How safe are these mobile payment apps, such as Apple Pay?

How safe is it having apps such as Barclays banking on your mobile ?

Although I am used to online banking, I do worry about accessing my account in public places due to wifi in some cafes and other communal meeting places being insecure. How safe is it just to log in to check my balance when not at home using my own network? I am worried fraudsters sit in public areas purely to hack into people's devices

I recently got a scam call purportedly from my supplier Talktalk telling me they had detected a fault with my broadband service. When challenged they confirmed my account number.
Fortunately I was suspicious and offered to call them back on Talktalk's advertised number. Needless to say it had not been a call from Talktalk but I worry about other older people who might be conned in this way. How can we guard against these unscrupulous people who want to access our computers to obtain bank details etc. and who already have some information to validate themselves?

Is it true that if you are the victim of a scam or fraud and you have paid for your product on your credit card, that the credit card company will refund you ?

Are there any sites online that we can report all these scam phishing and fraud emails we receive? I know that paypal have an email address that we can forward paypal spoof emails.

Do you think the Banking Industry could do more into stopping Fraud? There doesn't seem to be prominent enough warnings on their websites giving some education into types of Fraud to be wary of?

Scam e-mails are getting more sophisticated all the time. How can we be sure which are genuine and are some e-mails harmful if you just click on them but don't give anyone any details?

If I was the victim of identity theft, what signs should I be looking out for? And who could I turn to for help and advice?