This year has seen scams ranging from the mundane to morbid, with one woman even using the body of a dead relative to steal money – here’s a round up of the strangest this year.
With the introduction of new legislation in October to enhance protections for fraud victims, 2024 has seen several major wins in the fight against scammers.
Although this hasn’t stopped criminals from coming up with new and inventive ways to pinch people’s cash.
The use of AI has made scams increasingly difficult to detect, leading to a surge in sophisticated and complex schemes employed by fraudsters.
However, some scammers continue to rely on bizarre and outlandish tactics, from fake lunches with British royals to bogus billionaire giveaways – here are some of the most unusual examples.
Royal Membership Cards
Facebook users reported seeing posts pretending to be from King Charles, advertising a ‘royal membership card’, allowing the owner to visit the monarch three times in person each year.
The ‘lucky’ buyers were also promised free flight tickets, phones and a cap and t-shirt.
Those who expressed interest in the offer reportedly received fake application forms asking for personal data and were quoted ‘fees’ in the thousands that they were asked to pay in order to receive the royal perks.
Loan for a dead uncle
In April, a woman in Brazil made headlines across the world after wheeling her dead relative into a bank branch to sign off a loan.
She was seen repeatedly forcing a pen into the hand of her uncle, who was said to have been dead for at least two hours.
Following the incident she was charged with a fraud offence.
£3 laptops
In January, posts began to appear on Facebook saying that Argos was clearing its redundant electrical stock after ‘terminating its contract’ with laptop makers.
The Dell and HP laptops were offered for £3 each, and the offer was said to be exclusive to individuals over the age of 35.
Argos released a statement to warn people against handing over personal and financial details to those behind the scam.
Google Maps
Throughout the year, reports emerged of criminals targeting individuals by sending them Google Maps screenshots of their homes, along with their names, addresses, and phone numbers.
The email falsely claims the scammer has taken control of their device and obtained compromising images of the victim, in a bid to extort them into paying a sum of bitcoins.
Jeff Rothschild giveaway
Earlier this year, an offer claiming to come from US billionaire Jeff Rothschild tried to entice victims by promising riches and gifts if they responded to the advert with their full name and address.
However, this was actually an advanced fee fraud, where victims would then be tricked into making a payment themselves to release their rewards.
Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.