Practice drills
What would you do?
Scams work by rushing a decision. These 14 short drills let you make that decision in advance, when nothing is at stake, so the safe choice feels familiar when pressure arrives.
14 scenarios
Choose your response.
Only your first answer counts towards the score, but every explanation opens once you choose. Each drill links to the full guide for that scam.
Your phone rings from an unknown number. A voice that sounds exactly like your grandson says he has been arrested after a car accident and needs £1,500 for bail. He begs you not to tell his parents. Then a ‘lawyer’ takes the phone and explains how to pay.
A caller says they are from your bank’s fraud team, and the caller ID shows the number printed on your card. They say your account is under attack and ask you to move your savings to a ‘safe account’ they have set up for you.
You are expecting a parcel. A text says delivery failed because of an incomplete address and asks you to pay a £1.45 redelivery fee through a link.
A parking meter has a sticker with a QR code offering ‘fast mobile payment’. When you scan it, the page asks for your card details and mobile number.
After a quick chat on a messaging app, a recruiter offers you flexible work rating products online. Your dashboard shows earnings, but the next task needs a £200 deposit to ‘unlock’ your commission.
A friendly member of an online group shares daily screenshots of profits from an ‘AI trading bot’ and invites you to start with just $250 on their recommended platform.
Someone you met on a dating app two months ago — but have never met in person — says they can finally visit you, but customs is holding their luggage until they pay a $2,000 fee.
While you are browsing, a full-screen warning claims your computer is infected and your data is at risk. It shows a support number, plays an alarm and tells you not to close the window.
A friend messages you: ‘I sent my verification code to your number by mistake — can you forward it?’ A code arrives on your phone at the same moment.
You are selling a sofa online. The buyer sends a screenshot of a completed payment and an email saying your funds will be released once you pay a £100 ‘seller verification fee’.
A caller says a warrant has been issued because you missed jury duty. You can avoid arrest, they say, by paying a bond with gift cards today — and you must stay on the line.
At work, an email arrives in an existing thread with a regular supplier. It says their bank details have changed and asks you to pay today’s invoice to the new account.
A flat is listed well below local rents. The landlord says they are working abroad and asks for a deposit to reserve it before anyone else can view it.
Months after losing money to an investment scam, a ‘recovery agency’ calls. They know how much you lost and say the funds have been traced and can be released for a 10% fee.
Keep going
Your result appears when every drill is answered.
Nothing is saved or sent anywhere. Refreshing the page clears your answers.
The pattern behind every answer
Leave the channel. Verify on your terms.
- The contact controls the evidence.Caller ID, screenshots, documents and links all come from the person asking.
- Pressure is the tell.Deadlines, secrecy and fear are there to stop you checking.
- A fresh contact breaks the script.A number, app or website you already trust puts you back in control.
Keep practising
Can you tell who controls a link?
Ten web addresses, each hiding a common trick. Learn to find the part of the address that decides who really runs the page.
Try the web-address exercise