Over £95,000 stolen from bank’s customers by ‘side hustle’ scammers last autumn

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Individuals who need to bridge the hole to January payday by taking up extra work or “aspect hustles” are being warned by a financial institution to be careful for scams.

Santander UK stated that, based on its knowledge, greater than £95,000 was stolen from clients between October and December 2025 by criminals providing cash for finishing “duties”.

Some scammers will promise cash in return for liking or sharing social media influencer movies, typically providing small funds initially to hook customers in.

Criminals could immediately ask for an upfront fee.

Folks may additionally be requested to obtain one other messaging app to attach with different “members”, reminiscent of a “receptionist” or “mentor”, and to open an account on a crypto platform.

Rip-off victims are requested to finish duties that they should pre-pay to entry, utilizing their very own cash, on the promise of getting a better return. The prison will ask the sufferer to deposit cash into an account managed by a fraudster.

They are going to then be blocked from withdrawing their funds, typically by being advised their “credit score rating” is beneath the edge to withdraw money and extra money is required to launch it.

Folks aged 20 to 55 are generally focused and Santander has warned criminals typically misrepresent themselves as being from respectable corporations to realize individuals’s belief.

Chris Ainsley, head of fraud technique at Santander UK, stated: “January payday nonetheless feels a great distance off for a lot of, as the prices of Christmas begin to roll in, others use this time to re-evaluate their funds and begin saving for the yr forward.

“In search of methods to make some further money supplies scammers with a chance to pounce.

“Be cautious of any jobs that appear too good to be true, promising returns for merely ‘liking’ social media content material.

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“Begin the brand new yr alert – even should you’ve earned a few kilos from a number of clicks earlier than – any requests to pay an upfront price to tackle a job must be handled as a rip-off.”

Dr Rasha Kassem, senior educational and chief of the Fraud Analysis Group (FRG) at Aston College, stated: “Actual aspect hustles have clear pay, correct phrases and no upfront charges. The faux variations copy this concept to look innocent.

“Previously, related methods appeared as faux thriller purchasing jobs or work-from-home provides that requested for charges. Now they use social media, messaging apps and crypto platforms to appear extra convincing.”