Payment in advance scam

What is a payment in advance scam?

A payment in advance scam is sometimes called an advance fee scam.

A scam is when someone tries to take your money by pretending to help you, or by offering you something which they are not going to give you.

Payment in advance and advance fee mean paying for something before you get it.

A hand holding some money and a red arrow pointing to a red cross.

Payment in advance scams and advance fee scams are when someone tricks you into paying for something which you never get.

Someone might trick you and say you will get:

a prize
a service
something worth a lot of money like a car
a loan.

A car and some bags of money with a red cross through them.

But you never get the thing you have paid for.

A man sitting on a chair reading with a question mark above him.

Things to look out for

You are asked to pay money in advance for something you did not order.

Or to get a prize in a competition you did not take part in.

A man with downs syndrome and a woman are pointing to a flip chart which has a picture of people with learning disabilities doing different jobs

2. You are asked to pay money in advance for some training or for checks for a job that is not real.

3. You are asked to pay money in advance as a deposit, admin charge or for insurance and are told you will get the money back.

A woman in a wheelchair with a bag of money beside her.

4. You are asked to pay money in advance to get a loan, prize, service or goods.

A hand holding a mobile phone which has pound signs and an exclamation mark on the screen.

5. Someone tries to make you pay quickly by wire, bank transfer or cryptocurrency.

A pile of money next to a globe that has arrows from the UK to different countries.

Wire is the same as a bank transfer, but you can also pay money into an account in a different country.

A man looking at a laptop with a messenger program open on the screen

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency like Bitcoin.

6. The end of the website address is not the same as the end of the email you have been sent. For example .gov.uk

What should I do if I think I have been scammed?

Contact your bank as soon as possible.

If you are in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by phoning 0300 123 2040.

A map of the UK and Republic of Ireland highlighting Scotland in dark green

If you are in Scotland, you should report it to Police Scotland by phoning 101.

A yellow circle with a drawing of a hand in black inside - text reads Take Five to Stop Fraud

Find out more

Take Five is a campaign which gives advice about how to try to make sure no-one tricks you and takes your money.

You can find advice about the Take Five campaign online at  www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk

If you have a learning disability or care for someone with a learning disability and want to find out more about scams or the Take Five campaign, you can call Mencap‘s Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111.

This easy read was co-written by Mencap and UK Finance.