With an imitation of the government's Cost of Living Payments scheme, this scam includes a link to a very convincing copycat government website.
Below, we show you what this scam looks like and explain what the Cost of Living payment is and how you qualify for it.
undefinedAnnual living allowance text
This scam text refers to an ‘annual allowance’, which is not an official government scheme and claims that your 2023-2024 allowance hasn't been received.
The scammers could be avoiding referring to a recognisible benefit to try to get you to click through to the copycat website.
The message claims that you have a short window of ‘three working days’ to submit your application ‘as soon as possible’.
Copycat government website
The link in the message takes you to a copycat government website using a convincing gov.uk logo, font and branding, and also includes genuine links to the official gov.uk website.
It instructs you to register to receive a ‘£900 Cost of Living payment’ by entering your name, number, email address and home address. It also requests your financial information to receive the payment.
We entered fake personal information to see what happened and it continued to take us to a payment page.
The website’s URL is one of the clearest giveaways that it’s a scam as the only official government website is gov.uk. We checked the details of this website and this scam site was created last week.
Another scam sign is that it asks for your 'state' and' zip code', which are not terms typically used in the UK.
Am I entitled to a Cost of Living payment?
You don't need to apply for these – if you’re eligible you’re paid automatically.
Cost of Living payments of £299, £300, £301, £324 and £326 are made to those receiving:
The government has previously warned that messages asking you to apply or to contact someone about payments could be scams.
Spotting and avoiding dodgy copycat websites
Checking if the URL doesn't begin with 'https’Checking for slight changes in the website addressConsidering how you found the websiteReading the pages on the website carefullyIf you have clicked on a dodgy link and shared personal or financial information, you should contact your bank immediately and notify them. You should also be cautious of any further communications requesting you move money or make payments as scammers may attempt to contact you again.
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/annual-living-allowance-text-scam-af5U66B99m3X