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Posted by Aston Avery

Listen: BGT impresionist Francine Lewis on how to avoid impersonation scams

People under 35 are more likely than older age groups to have been targeted in an impersonation scam and fallen for it. An impersonation scam is where a criminal contacts someone pretending to be a person or organisation that they trust. They then try to convince you to make a payment or give away your personal and financial details.

New figures from UK Finance have shown that almost three quarters (71%) of 18 to 34-year-olds surveyed said they had been contacted by an impersonation scammer. Close to 3 in 4 (73%) of those targeted said they had subsequently fallen for the scam, either having sent money or shared personal information.

Impressionist and former Britain’s Got Talent contestant Francine Lewis (43 years old) from Blackpool knows only too well how convincing criminal scammers can be. Francine and her family lost £90,000 to criminals pretending to run a legitimate stocks company. The money had been hard-earned through her TV show appearances and was intended to be savings for her children, the criminals also made away with her father-in-law’s retirement fund.

Aston spoke to impresionist and former Britain’s Got Talent contestant Francine Lewis and Giles Mason, head of press at UK finance.

Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash

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