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Take Five To Stop Fraud

Last updated on 27th January 2024

Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from financial fraud.

In authorised push payment scams (APP), criminals trick you into sending money directly from your account to an account controlled by the criminal. This is different to unauthorised scams; where authorisation isn’t provided, and the transfer is carried out by a third party. You would only know this has happened once you’ve checked your bank statement and found entries that you don’t recognise.

The use of social engineering tactics through deception and impersonation is a key driver of rising fraud levels. Social engineering is a tactic by which criminals groom and manipulate you into transferring money or divulging your personal and financial details.

In a deception scam, a criminal will typically pose as a someone from a genuine organisation such as a bank, the police, a retailer, utility company or government department.

These crimes can have a devastating impact. Organised criminal gangs which commit these frauds profit from the proceeds. This money may go on to fund illicit acts which damage our society – crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking and people smuggling.

Take Five to Stop Fraud helps you to confidently challenge any requests for your personal or financial information or to transfer money to a criminal’s account. It focuses on financial frauds and scams directly targeting you.