Metro Bank is joining forces with Take Five to advise consumers about fraud prevention during ScamSceptible Week from Monday May 13^th.

ScamSceptible Week is reminding consumers that as scammers can try to take advantage of how you're feeling, the time of the day and other factors which can lead you to being more susceptible to their tactics. Consumers who follow this link takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/scamtest can learn more about the latest scams and how to protect themselves.

Last year was the second biggest year for scams in the past two decades as the amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to a staggering £2.3bn[1].

"We are happy to support any initiative that helps raise awareness with consumers about the latest scams," comments Metro Bank's Head of Fraud & Investigations, Baz Thompson. "It is unfair that consumers have to be vigilant all the time. But, given the vast amounts of money the scammers can earn, they never stop, they never miss an opportunity to defraud and we all need to work together to minimise the damage they can cause. This is a great campaign to raise awareness for consumers on other factors which can make them more susceptible to these scams."

Take Five reminds consumers to take these three easy steps to help prevent fraud:

• STOP – Take a moment to stop and think if someone asks for your money or personal information.
• CHALLENGE – Ask yourself, could it be fake? It's ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests.
• PROTECT – Contact your bank and report any suspicious activity immediately. You can do this by dialing 159.

[1] BDO's FraudTrack report