As I’ve written about many times, fake endorsements and scams are becoming increasingly commonplace online. Now, we’ve made an animated guide to help people to identify the threats and avoid the scams.

I’ve been very animated about these issues for quite some time, so it’s only fitting we have made an animated version of yours truly to ensure people can spot scams before it’s too late. Watch the video to see the tactics fraudsters use and how to combat them.

This is a growing problem, with cases of fraud, including online scams, topping UK crime statistics for the first time in 2019 and costing UK consumers £190bn per year. 

Animated Richard Branson with a bunch of scammers
Image from Virgin.com

People who comment or post on high-profile social media pages, including mine, are being targeted. Often, these scammers will share links and ask for fees or information in order to ‘phish’ for personal data. 

Virgin has opened its own reporting portal at http://virgin.com/online-scams too – we urge anyone affected to report any cases featuring me or Virgin that seem suspicious.

Virgin's report-a-scam portal
Image from Virgin.com

We are working hard to unmask scammers. Only trust what we post on our official channels. Help us stop scammers and report anything you think is suspicious. If you think it’s a con, send it on.