As fraudsters gear up to take advantage of the Christmas period, NatWest has launched an advent calendar designed to educate Brits on the threat of common purchase scams.
Research from NatWest shows that 41% of British adults receive more scam approaches during November and December. Purchase scams losses are now at their highest level since data collection began in 2020.
The Scamvent calendar, which will be available in limited numbers in selected branches, features 12 doors and finely crafted artisan chocolates, each representing one of the 12 most common purchase scams the public are likely to encounter this festive period.
The bank - which last Christmas rolled out a board game with a similar theme - has enlisted Hannah Byczkowski and Wilf Webster from Series 1 of TV show ‘The Traitors’, to promote the calendar in a video.
The NatWest research show that 31% of adults are anxious that they’ll fall for a scam when doing their present buying, with 92% of purchase scams linked to online purchases. A quarter of British adults have encountered an advert they believe to be a scam or a fake website or digital marketplace listing while shopping for presents during the holiday season.
The bank has also put together a top 12 of purchases that are most at risk of being a scam: phones; tickets; online vouchers and gift cards; laptops and tablets; clothing; hope tech; jewellery; video games; cars; watches; luxury handbags; and shoes.