Copy article

The scam texts that can cost you thousands - and how to spot them instantly

ended 24. March 2026

Cybersecurity experts have issued a fresh warning for Brits to think twice before responding to suspicious text messages, with NordVPN finding that scam texts have reached a new level of sophistication.

There are three common warning signs consumers should look out for in scam texts: messages that create a false sense of urgency, texts containing links or phone numbers directing people to contact them, and wording designed to play on fear of consequences.

To help people check suspicious messages, NordVPN has launched a free scam checker tool that allows users to paste in a message or upload a screenshot of one they’ve been sent to assess whether it may be fraudulent. 

The launch comes as new global research suggests scams are now costing consumers hundreds of billions each year, with more than half of adults reporting they have been targeted in the past 12 months.

  • How important is NordVPNs advice on scams?
  • Any other advice to stop being scammed?
  • Is this a growing problem? 
  • Any personal experiences of scams?

Responses by tomorrow.

4 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Copy

Editor
Dil Gujral
Chief AI Trainer at AI Now Academy
Back to the good old days of send important stuff by snail mail.

If you think scam texts are bad waiting till they start using AI to impersonate family members for extortion.
Copy

Premium
Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
My father-in-law was scammed a few weeks before he died, and being elderly, he was trusting. In going through his papers, we discovered a payment from his bank account that led to its discovery. The bank took no responsibility for this fraudulent payout because he had consented to the payment… which is the path the scammers are trying to lead you down.

Recognising the hallmarks of a scam request is the first step to viewing texts and emails with a suspicious eye. Almost all urgent ‘pay now’ messages should be treated with a high degree of vigilance. If it comes from a business you have purchased from, then independently researching the company’s telephone number and calling them direct rather than from the text is a best practice every single time. This new scam checker tool from NordVPN is a great idea if it helps people avoid the trap my elderly father-in-law fell into.
Copy

Rohit Parmar-Mistry
Founder at Pattrn Data
Advice like this matters because scam texts now look and feel like real service messages: the language is polished, the sender name can be spoofed, and the ‘story’ is designed to get you to act before you think. Urgency plus a link is the classic trap.

My simple rule is: do not interact with the message. Do not tap the link, do not reply, and do not call the number in the text. Instead, go to the organisation via a channel you already trust (their official app, the number on your card, or a bookmarked website) and check there.

Other practical steps: enable spam filtering, keep your phone and banking apps updated, set up account alerts, and use two factor authentication where possible. Be especially cautious with delivery ‘missed parcel’ claims and ‘your account will be closed’ threats.

Yes, it is a growing problem. The economics are brutal: automation makes it cheap to target millions, and even a tiny success rate pays. The best defence is slowing down and verifying independently.
Copy

Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
Good advice, wrong framing. Telling people to "think twice" puts the burden on the person being targeted, not the systems delivering the scam.

Scam texts shouldn't be an IT literacy or mental gymnastics problem. They're an infrastructure problem. Messages are better written, better timed, and increasingly built using leaked personal data. The person who falls for one isn't careless. They're a parent distracted at school pickup, or someone genuinely worried about a missed delivery. Vigilance doesn't scale against AI generated, data enriched fraud arriving 50 times a month.

NordVPN's tool is useful. But a free checker from a paid VPN company is still a product funnel. The harder question is why telecoms carriers aren't filtering more at source and why banks still process obviously suspicious transfers at speed. Until the infrastructure changes, "look out for urgency and dodgy links" is a sticking plaster on a structural wound.