Over the past six months, victims of learner driver scams have lost an average of £244, compared to the previous six months, according to reports from Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds Bank customers.
Lloyds has warned that these scams typically begin on social media with adverts claiming to offer discounted driving lessons. Victims are encouraged to contact a fake driving instructor or school via WhatsApp and asked to pay £150 upfront for five lessons and £100 for insurance.
After lessons are booked, learners discover they’ve been scammed when the instructor doesn’t show up and they are blocked on WhatsApp.
Here, we reveal our latest findings and explain how to spot, avoid and report these scams.
Learner drivers targeted with scams
Lloyds also received reports of fake driving tests promoted via social media adverts that guarantee early or specific test slots, only for victims to show up and find that the booking doesn’t exist.
These unofficial sellers were using bots (a type of automated software) to buy up test slots in bulk and sell them for higher prices. Worryingly, they asked learner drivers for their licence number, driving test reference number and email address, leaving victims vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.
Which? searched again for these types of scams and found eight examples of scam adverts appearing on Facebook and Instagram between 10-12 March. The adverts claimed to offer full driving licences without needing theory or practical tests.
All the adverts we found asked learners to contact them via WhatsApp or Instagram. We reported these adverts to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and it told us that it doesn’t allow fraudulent activity and works with law enforcement to support investigations and keep scammers off its platforms.
At the time of writing this, five adverts had been taken offline and three remained live. Meta told Which? that will be investigating the remaining adverts.
Online Safety Act
Tougher regulation for online platforms became law in October 2023 with the passing of the Online Safety Act. This gave the regulator Ofcom the power to fine companies that breach the Act up to £18m or 10% of worldwide revenue.
From today, online platforms must comply with the first set of duties under the Online Safety Act. The illegal harms codes of practice, set out by Ofcom, require online platforms, such as Meta and Google, to do more to prevent user-generated fraud. User-generated fraud in the scope of the Online Safety Act can cover posts such as listing items for sale on second-hand marketplaces.
The Online Safety Act also sets out requirements for platforms to prevent scam advertising. Further duties on this will apply in time, but under the current timetable set out by Ofcom, platforms in the scope won’t be held accountable until 2027.
Which? is calling on Ofcom to take strong action against platforms that don't comply, and to implement the codes for fraudulent ads sooner to prevent people from falling victim to scam ads.
Find out moreSpot, avoid and report scam ads
Always be suspicious of adverts and posts that promote highly discounted prices, pressure you into making a decision quickly or ask for you to send a payment to an account held in a random name. Always check the website address to see if it matches that of the genuine brand.
On Facebook and Instagram, you can report posts and ads by selecting the three dots in the top right corner and pressing ‘report’.
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/scam-adverts-on-social-media-target-learner-drivers-adbQK6Z5PZ3E