Martin Lewis shares the 3 digits to dial if you fear you have been scammed | Personal Finance | Finance
One million calls have been made to the ‘159’ anti-scam phone number since its launch in 2021, according to Martin Lewis, who has had his own face used in scams. The Money Saving Expert founder and ITV1 Good Morning Britain presenter said that anyone who was worried they had provided card or bank details to scammers should dial those three digits.
He said: “When calling 159 you’ll be asked to provide the name of the bank you want to be connected to – either by saying it out loud or using your keypad. You’ll then be directed through to your bank’s customer service department.” Lewis explained that calling the service costs the same as making a national rate call, which means if you’ve got inclusive minutes it’ll be taken from those.
He added that Stop Scams UK, the industry body behind the scheme is working towards making 159 a universal number offered by all telephone providers, similar to 101, 111 or 999.
Lewis said: “A few MoneySavers on certain mobile networks (including Smarty and iD Mobile) have reported the 159 number not working for them. We’ve asked Stop Scams UK to look into these reports and we’ll update this story when we know more.”
Earlier this month, Martin Lewis took to social media to tell followers that he accidentally answered a spam call.
The founder of Money Saving Expert has told viewers that he tries not to answer calls from numbers he does not know.
The 52-year-old said that because he accidentally answered a phone call from a number he didn’t recognise, this now meant scammers knew his number was real. Lewis told his followers on X that he now expects to become a scam target and warned others against doing the same.
He is also working alongside the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) to warn of a surge in fake compensation websites which target those caught out by a rise in the state pension age.
Lewis and Waspi are warning women to be aware of fraudsters who are creating bogus sites which claim they are acting on behalf of the 3.6 million women impacted by the Department for Work and Pensions’ decision to hike the state pension age.
