UK Scam Alerts — August 2026

1. The fake TV Licensing email

The subject lines vary. Some say your licence expires today. Some say there's a problem with your payment. Some go the other way and tell you you're owed a refund, which catches people who'd never fall for a threat but will happily click for money back.

Click through and you land on a copy of the TV Licensing site that wants your name, date of birth, address, account number, sort code, card number and CVV. That is not a payment form. That is a shopping list.

The tell is the greeting. Genuine TV Licensing emails include your name and part of your postcode, because they have both on file. Scam emails have neither, because all the sender bought was your email address. If the email opens with something generic and never once uses your name, close it.

Real emails come from donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk or donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk. Tap the sender name on your phone to see the actual address behind it, not the display name, which anyone can set to anything. The standard colour licence is £180 a year for 2026-27, so a demand for some odd figure you don't recognise is worth a second look on its own. The Star covered the warning in more detail.

If you're genuinely unsure, sign in to your TV Licensing account by typing the address in yourself. Your licence status is right there. It takes thirty seconds and it settles it.

2. The Nationwide "Fairer Share" payment scam

Nationwide paid £100 to over four million eligible members this year. It was in the papers, people talked about it, and plenty of members are still not sure whether they got theirs. Perfect conditions for a scam.

So the emails have started. Claim your Fairer Share Payment. Confirm your details to release your payment. Verify your account before the deadline. All of it fake, all of it pointing at a page that wants your banking login or card details.

There is no application process for the real thing. Nationwide works out who qualifies and pays the money into the account. No form, no claim, no confirmation step, no deadline. Any message asking you to do something to receive it is a scam, full stop. You don't need to check anything else about the email. That one fact is enough.

There's a phone version too, with someone claiming to be from Nationwide's fraud team. If you're on a call and it feels off, open the Nationwide app while still on the line. The Call Checker tile tells you whether you are actually speaking to Nationwide. If it says you're not, hang up mid-sentence. You owe a scammer nothing, least of all politeness.

Nationwide's own guidance on this is at nationwide.co.uk, and Which? has been tracking both waves on its scam alerts page.

3. The fake HMRC refund email

It arrives looking right. HMRC green, the crown logo, the same slightly stiff wording the real letters use. Usually it mentions an overpayment on your 2024 to 2025 Self Assessment, or a credit sitting on your record waiting to be released.

Then the deadline. Claim within 24 hours. Respond before the refund expires. That pressure is the whole trick, because it stops you doing the one thing that ends the scam instantly, which is checking.

Click the link and you land on a copy of the HMRC sign-in page, or a claim form wanting your name, address, date of birth and bank account details so the refund can be paid in. There is no refund. What you've handed over is enough to take money out rather than put it in.

HMRC will never email you about a refund with a deadline attached. If you are genuinely owed money it sits in your HMRC account, and it will still be there next week. Log in yourself at tax.service.gov.uk or open the HMRC app and look. Type the address in rather than clicking through from anything.

Forward the email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and delete it. HMRC's guidance on genuine contacts lists what real messages from them do and don't do. Worth a bookmark.

4. WhatsApp messages pretending to be from HMRC

This version catches people who have already learned to be careful with email.

HMRC does use WhatsApp, which is exactly what makes it work. It's a broadcast channel: general reminders about deadlines and forms, sent one way, to everyone who signed up. Nobody at the other end reads replies, and nothing about your personal tax account ever goes through it.

The scam version turns up as a direct message. There's a penalty on your account, or a refund waiting, and there's either a link or a number to ring. Ring the number and you get someone patient and helpful who talks you through handing over your details.

HMRC will never send you a direct WhatsApp message about your tax account. Not about a penalty, not about a refund, not to confirm your details. If it's a one-to-one chat, it isn't HMRC.

Screenshot it, forward the screenshot to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, report the contact inside WhatsApp, then delete the chat.

5. The fake Ofgem energy rebate

Comes as a text or email. The subject line on the emails is typically "Claim your bill rebate now," and that exact wording turned up in 752 reports to Action Fraud in just four days during a previous price cap cycle. The message says you're eligible for a payment, usually between £200 and £500, tied to the change in energy prices. It uses Ofgem's name, logo, and official colours. The deadline is tight: 24 hours, or before the end of the week.

Click the link and you land on a fake website asking for your bank details to pay the rebate in. Some versions ask you to set up a direct debit. Either way, there's no rebate.

Ofgem does not contact individual customers. Not by text, not by email, not ever. Any genuine energy support payment comes through your supplier automatically. There is nothing to apply for, no form to fill in, and no bank details required to receive it. A countdown or deadline in a rebate message is always a pressure tactic.

If you get one: forward the text to 7726 or the email to report@phishing.gov.uk, then delete it.

6. Fake app ads leading to unlicensed casinos

Which? flagged this one at the end of July. Ads are running on Facebook and Instagram that look identical to standard app promotions for apps people already recognise and trust: Google Authenticator, Disney+, Duolingo, Airbnb. Tap through and you end up at an unlicensed online casino, not a legitimate app.

The problem isn't just losing money on a dodgy bet. The casino behind these ads is not registered with the Gambling Commission. That means UK consumer protections don't apply. If you deposit money, there is no regulated route to recovering it.

The sign something's wrong: the ad routes you somewhere other than the official app stores. Genuine apps are always installed through Google Play or the Apple App Store. If a social media ad is pointing you to install from a website or a third-party link, stop.

When in doubt, open your phone's app store and search for the app directly. Skip the ad entirely.