The UK national campaign against online scams teams up with famous magician to make its point

After a 2022 with 45,367 reported cases of impersonation scams and £177.6m losses, Take Five, the UK national campaign against online fraud, brings in magician Ben Hanlin to show how easy it could be for a criminal to trick people.

The Take Five campaign aims to help people protect themselves against email and phone scams and phishing – particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organizations.

Research from the campaign found that people find it hard to spot scams, and only 51% of people always check if a request for money or personal information is legitimate before responding. Younger adults are particularly at risk, with only 38% of 18-34 year olds and 27% of those aged 18-24 always checking.

Ben Hanlin, famous for his appearances on ITV’s Tricked and Dancing on Ice, and followed by over 1.3 million on TikTok, demonstrated that it doesn’t take a magician to trick people into handing over their personal information when he filmed outside a music festival in East London over the summer.

Stop. Challenge. Protect

The campaign urges people to take a mere five minutes before making a decision or sharing personal information online. This brief pause can provide an invaluable opportunity to assess the situation and avoid potential pitfalls.

The initiative promotes three key principles:

• Stop: Always take a moment to pause and think before sending money or sharing information.
• Challenge: It's alright to reject, refuse, or ignore any suspicious requests. Only criminals will pressure or rush you. It's ok to respond after verifying the request.
• Protect: Act quickly to prevent further harm if you've fallen for a scam.

Technologies that help you keep scammers away

Several Bitdefender products and features specifically address the challenges of scams, phishing, and impersonation attempts.

• Bitdefender Scam Alert (for Android & iOS) keeps you protected from scams when browsing or engaging with apps on your smartphone. It monitors incoming links from messages, emails, and browsers, immediately alerting you about potential scam links or phishing attempts.

• Bitdefender Anti-Phishing, a crucial component in many Bitdefender products, specifically targets phishing attempts. By recognizing suspicious web page behavior and content, it prevents you from entering credentials or personal data on a counterfeit or compromised website.

• Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection safeguards your online presence by constantly monitoring the surface and dark web for any signs of your personal information being misused or exposed. It alerts you if your personal data, such as email addresses, passwords, and card details, appear in contexts they shouldn't. And it guides you to take the best timely actions to prevent potential impersonation or scams using the exposed data.

Read more about our identity protection and privacy solutions here.