An animated guide to help tackle online fraud

Richard Branson smiling
Image by Virgin.com
Virgin Galactic
Richard Branson's signature
Published on 7 January 2020

As I’ve written about many times, fake endorsements and scams are becoming increasingly commonplace online. Now, we’ve made an animated guide to help people to identify the threats and avoid the scams.

Richard Branson: How to spot a scam before it's too late

I’ve been very animated about these issues for quite some time, so it’s only fitting we have made an animated version of yours truly to ensure people can spot scams before it’s too late. Watch the video to see the tactics fraudsters use and how to combat them.

This is a growing problem, with cases of fraud, including online scams, topping UK crime statistics for the first time in 2019 and costing UK consumers £190bn per year. 

Cartoon image of Richard Branson and three people trying to look like him
Image from Virgin.com

People who comment or post on high-profile social media pages, including mine, are being targeted. Often, these scammers will share links and ask for fees or information in order to ‘phish’ for personal data. 

Virgin has opened its own reporting portal at http://virgin.com/online-scams too – we urge anyone affected to report any cases featuring me or Virgin that seem suspicious.

We are working hard to unmask scammers. Only trust what we post on our official channels. Help us stop scammers and report anything you think is suspicious. If you think it’s a con, send it on.