Scam adverts and paid online advertising

Immediate action

Protect accounts and payment routes

Contact the bank or payment provider using a trusted number or app, not details supplied by the advertiser. Explain the payment, timing and suspected fraud. Secure email, banking and marketplace accounts, change reused credentials and preserve evidence before deleting messages.

Preserve

Capture the advert and transaction

• The full ad, platform, account, date, URL and targeting context.
• The landing page, domain, contact details and checkout.
• Payment recipient, reference, amount and time.
• Messages, invoices, wallet addresses or delivery promises.
• Reports made and reference numbers.

Fraud report

Use the correct national reporting route

The reporting route can differ across the UK, especially in Scotland. Use current official police or national fraud guidance. If there is immediate danger or a crime in progress, use the appropriate emergency route.

ASA scam-ad route

Report the paid online advertisement

The ASA provides a specific reporting route for paid online scam ads. Supply the platform, advertiser, URL and image. This helps address the advertising channel, but it does not decide a bank reimbursement claim.

Platform

Report content without relying on the platform alone

Use the platform's reporting function and keep the acknowledgement. The platform may remove content or accounts, but it does not necessarily recover the payment or preserve a legal deadline.

Money

Pursue payment recovery on its own evidence

The available route depends on card, bank transfer, finance, wallet or cash. State what the bank was told, what warnings appeared, how the payment was authorised and what happened after it was sent. Do not alter evidence or continue contact merely to gather more material if doing so creates risk.

Follow up

Track each report separately

1. Bank or payment case and deadline.
2. Fraud report and reference.
3. Platform report.
4. ASA scam-ad report.
5. Trader or marketplace complaint where a real entity is involved.

Build my route

Safety

Do not continue engagement merely to gather evidence

Once fraud is suspected, further contact can expose the consumer to pressure, malware or identity theft. Preserve what already exists, block contact where appropriate and follow trusted security guidance. Do not install remote-access software or share verification codes.

Impersonation

Check the real organisation through an independent channel

Scam ads can impersonate banks, retailers, celebrities, government bodies or investment firms. Open the genuine organisation's website independently, not through the advert. Compare the domain, contact details and regulator register where relevant.

A familiar logo or professional video is not proof of identity. Artificially generated voices and images can make impersonation more convincing.

Payment evidence

Give the bank a precise fraud chronology

Record when the ad was seen, what representations were made, when each payment was authorised, recipient details, warnings shown, contact with the scammer and when suspicion arose. Explain whether the consumer believed they were paying a genuine trader, moving money to safety or investing.

Keep the bank complaint and final response. If reimbursement is refused, identify the appropriate complaint and ombudsman route without waiting for the advert report.

Personal data

Respond to identity compromise

If identity documents, card details or account credentials were shared, contact the relevant issuer and follow official identity and cyber security guidance. Check accounts and credit reports where justified. Avoid sending full identity documents again in a general platform or advertising complaint.

Recovery scams

Be cautious about anyone promising recovery

People who report a scam can be targeted again by firms or criminals promising guaranteed recovery for an upfront fee. Verify identity, regulation and terms independently. A genuine authority will not require secrecy, remote access or payment into a “safe account”.

Official sources

Check the current official route