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How Radio 1 presenters fell for everyday scams - and how you can avoid doing the same

This article was published on Weds 27 November 2024

“You might remember me as someone else… Ella the PA, does that ring any bells?”

A few weeks back, several Radio 1 presenters received a message from someone claiming to be Ella, a new personal assistant working for the big boss of 大象传媒 Music. Her profile picture looked friendly, and her message status was set to: ‘At the gym’. She gave off a familiar vibe.

The person on the other end of the conversation was actually Nick Stapleton from Scam Interceptors. As part of 大象传媒’s Scam Safe week, he wanted to prove that anybody could fall for a scam. “So I decided, why not try to see if I can scam some Radio 1 DJs?”

So did any of our DJs fall for Nick’s tricks? And how can we avoid falling for similar scams?

The power dynamic phishing scam

Group Chat host Nat O'Leary was caught on a day off chilling out at home - and without meaning to put herself in any danger, she gave out her home address to ‘Ella’.

The PA claimed to be a new recruit for the big 大象传媒 boss, Lorna Clarke. She asked for Nat's home address so she could receive a corporate Christmas card to say thanks for her work in 2024.

Jamie Laing says he would have fallen for the trick, were he not in such a rush. “I was gonna send everything over and then I sent them my manager’s email address instead.” But this was a wrong move too - even sending over the details of someone close to you can be compromising.

Nat was shocked to find out she’d fallen for it. “I looked at a picture and thought: She looks friendly. That was really silly of me wasn’t it?”

But Nat’s self-admonishment is part of the issue, Nick says. He says there’s a culture of victim blaming, and any one of us could fall for similar schemes if we’re also caught off guard. “It plays on this power dynamic where you see this message from someone and it says they’re representing a very senior person within your organisation - you’re not likely to question it.”

Vick Hope says the only reason she didn’t fall for the scam was because of a previous experience. “Nat, rest assured, I’ve been got in the worst possible way before and now I am very distrustful.”

Nick says: “I’m pro that stance. With messages like this, assume it’s a scam until proven otherwise.”

The lesson: Never reply to someone who isn’t in your contacts book. And even then, be aware of when someone trusted might be saying something that seems out of character, like asking for money out of the blue.

The shopping scam

Scammers love to try and access shopping accounts via a cold call. It’s an easy way to get into the conversation, because most of us have an account at one of the big online shopping destinations. If we don’t, the scammer will just try someone else.

They could claim there’s been some fraudulent activity on your account, and they will eventually ask for a one-time passcode in order to, in their words, protect your account from any scammers. Their actual intention will be the complete opposite. A one-time passcode will give them all the access they need, including important bank details that could allow them to cause far more damage.

Nick got in touch with presenter Vicky Hawkesworth claiming to be from Amazon, and he sent a one-time passcode to the Group Chat presenter, who was about to hand Nick access to her account.

She was suspicious at first, and had every right to be, asking Nick if she could hang up and contact Amazon herself. That was the correct thing to do.

But Nick kept her on the line by asking to send out a one-time passcode, which sounds like a secure next step that a legitimate caller might ask for.

We can feel suspicious of cold callers, but many of us won’t immediately hang up because we won’t want to appear rude. “Politeness culture in the UK is a big problem when it comes to scams,” Nick says. “We don’t want to hang up on people! But this is a criminal trying to steal your money, you should hang up on them.”

Vicky handed over the code, despite sounding really uncomfortable with the caller.

Jamie Laing admits: “I would have fallen for that in a heartbeat, that’s me done.”

Nick says: “Once I log into the account, all that data - your card details - is more valuable to scammers than money or buying something in Amazon. The cold call is a big hint. Any call out of the blue: Assume it’s a scam until proven otherwise. You say to whoever’s calling: ‘I’m not sure you are who you say you are, so I’m going to go direct to the company you say you’re from.’ If they’re a scammer, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep you on the phone. Any legit company will just go, ‘Yeah sure, no problem.’ It’s the perfect way to vet scam calls.”

The lesson: Never share one-time passcodes.

Trainer scams and how to avoid them

Over on 1Xtra Talks, Richie Brave was joined this week by Franklin Boateng AKA King of Trainers, and Messiah Odinma, Head of Student Finance at University of Hertfordshire.

They were here to show just how small the differences can be between a real trainer and a knock-off version.

"There’s so many avenues to buy from now. You’ve got online, a retail store, TikTok. And everyone’s after that bargain. Footwear has become a commodity, it’s so expensive."

We often find ourselves looking for trainers via resell sites, but these can come riddled with risks, because once we complete a transaction on fake trainers, it can be very difficult to get a refund.

Listen back to the show and , to see if Richie could tell the difference between real and fake trainers.

The 鈥榝riend in need鈥� scam

Nick’s next scam involved pretending to be our very own Matt Edmondson (with his permission, of course).

He sent a text from a new number to Matt’s good friend, Radio 1’s film critic Ali Plumb. It said: “Got a new phone. Are you busy Ali? Can we have a quick chat?” And he then used AI-generated voicenotes of Matt to try and wrangle Ali into lending some money.

The voice memos sounded authentic, Matt’s fake voice paired with the sound of passing traffic, like a legit message sent on the move. He asked Ali if he could contribute some money towards a maternity leave gift for his co-presenter, Mollie King. Would Ali go for it?

Our discerning movie man was suspicious from the start. “It was the third text. I pressed play on it, but it sounded like a posher version of Matt. A bit like him but not enough. So I just decided to ignore it.”

The issue is, even if Ali saw through the posh enunciation, AI is only going to get more sophisticated. Scams like these could become more prevalent. Nick says: “The best thing to do is ask them a question only the real person would know the answer to. Like, ‘where did we go for lunch last Tuesday?’”

Top 5 hacks for avoiding scams

1. If it’s out of the blue – take the time to check it’s for you

If you receive a call, text, WhatsApp or email that you’re not expecting, be cautious! Don’t respond in a hurry and look up the company or organisation’s contact details yourself and get back in touch that way.

2. Get a bit of attitude on

It's really important when someone contacts you out of the blue to go: 'Hold on a second, who are you? Why would you be contacting me?' Channel your inner diva and question why those people are calling you.

3. Ask for a second opinion

Ask someone you trust to take a look before giving away any details or paying any money. Eg. If it’s a text from your ‘boss’ on a ‘new’ number asking you to pick up a bunch of vouchers for staff, check with your boss on their ‘old’ number, email or in person that it’s genuinely from them before going out and spending any money.

4. Be aware of how you pay

The best way to pay is by Credit Card or Debit Card. If something goes wrong, you can ask the card provider to charge back that money. E-payment services are also regulated, so it's a safer way to pay. But never transfer money direct from your bank account, because usually when it's gone, it's gone. That's the same for gig tickets: Ask yourself if a little stall selling coffee or cupcakes can take your card, why can't someone selling gig tickets?

5. Share your story

Talking about your experiences helps everyone be more aware and stay safe. There can be a lot of shame, stigma and embarrassment at feeling or being seen as gullible but lots of scams are very sophisticated and it’s easy to be caught out… the more you share your experiences with others, the more aware they’ll become of the things to watch out for…