With fraudsters increasingly using the Covid-19 pandemic to illegally cash in via a number of different and elaborate scams, The Nottingham has seized the initiative and introduced an online hub to help protect its members.

The building society’s Financial Crime and Communications teams constantly evaluate their joint approach to helping people stay alert to scam threats.

There has been an uplift in financial fraud across the UK, with over £5m of coronavirus-related scams between March and June and more than 11,500 Covid-19 themed phishing scams reported to Action Fraud over the same time period.

The Nottingham was also aware that many of its more elderly and vulnerable members turned to online banking for the first time due to the pandemic and so the idea for an online Scams and Security hub was hatched.

It is now live and provides a plethora of information on how to keep people scam aware, and their finances safe and secure.

Senior financial crime manager Emma Young says: “We are delighted the hub is now available to all. It provides information on everything from the fraudsters who are using the current Covid-19 pandemic to illegally cash in to how we as a society constantly evaluate and improve our approach to helping people stay alert to scam threats.

“It’s also a useful support piece for our branch and other member-facing colleagues as it also includes UK Finance information about what financial abuse may look like – valuable details that can help identify the victims of financial crime or those most vulnerable to it.

“And it is a key aspect of our community work too because a key part of financial education is not just advice about the value of money and how to save, but also how to keep those funds, and yourself, safe too.”

By just taking a few minutes to look through the content available in the hub people can quickly become more educated about the threats and pick up valuable tips and tools as to how to become more scam aware and protect their finances.