The consumer expert on ITV's This Morning has revealed one key sign of a scam text that hints it's fake.
Alice Beer hosted a segment of the daytime TV show on Thursday, October 27, alongside Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield. They were discussing scam texts, which are becoming more and more commonplace, and how to know if they're genuine or not.
At the start of the feature, they discussed a popular scam doing the rounds at the moment, which involves a 'child' texting their parents and asking for help or money, the Mirror reports.
The trio talked about the surge in recent text scams, which can be difficult to spot if you don't know what to look out for.
And with the current cost of living crisis, people are being urged to take extra care when receiving a text that they aren't sure about.
As Alice led the segment, she revealed what to look out for that could hint at it being a scam.
Speaking during the ITV show, she said: "There's Covid vaccine scams going around this week. I'm eligible next week and I got a fake scam text this week. You don't have to engage. Be the active one. Don't engage; don't let them in the door.
"There's British Gas ones going around at the moment. This is the one I got last week. A debit failure. We're all fluctuating our accounts at the moment; it's perfectly feasible that my direct debit didn't go out."
Admitting she nearly fell for it, she added: "I didn't click on that. I nearly did; I'm not even with O2. But I nearly did it."
Alice then went on to warn the public that there are certain things to be aware of as she revealed what should set alarm bells ringing for people if they receive a text they're not expecting. She urged people to be careful and warned of the signs.
Insisting what they should look out for, she told viewers: "Sense of urgency, dodgy link, asking for information, dodgy email address - they are all warning signs. Don't get conned, please!"
Amid the cost of living crisis, Martin Lewis appeared on Good Morning Britain recently warning of a scam that could hit households.
"If you are contacted about the £66 a month, £400 winter electricity payment, you will be contacted by your energy firm, to give you info about it. You will not be asked to fill in any details," he said, "You should not fill in any details.
"If somebody asks you for details, even if it looks like Gov.uk - or it looks like it is, it really isn't. It is trying to scam you and get your details to data mine you or break into your bank account. Don't touch them, don't open them, don't look at them. Just delete them. Simple as that. Your own firm will contact you but it will not be contacting you for you to do anything."
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