MARTIN Lewis is warning people not to fall for a scam being shared in his name.

The Money Saving Expert says a new "sophisticated scam" is gaining traction on social media.

Fraudsters posing as O2, Vodafone and other mobile networks are sharing false warnings from Mr Lewis and Action Fraud, but neither have mentioned the issue.

The post states: "Straight from the City of London Police fraud team - Extremely sophisticated scam going about this week, involving all banks.

"You get a message saying a payment hasn’t been taken e.g O2, Vodafone, 3, Giff Gaff or EE and to click here.

"As soon as you touch it your money is gone."

The message, which is also being shared on WhatsApp, says the scam was confirmed by Martin Lewis, but Mr Lewis says he's not talked about it and Action Fraud says it has seen various versions of the post over the past few months, and has called them out as false.

Taking to Twitter, the Money Saving Expert said: "WARNING: This viral scam alert's nowt to do with me. I've NOT talked about it

"Always be scamaware, but this sounds nonsense. If u do get scam texts/emails it describes, it's likely phishing for data, so delete."

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The team at Money Saving Expert gave the following advice:

  • If you do see the post online being shared by someone, it's worth letting them know the scam isn't something Mr Lewis has warned of and that Action Fraud has advised the contents are false.
  • Those sharing the posts are likely only trying to help though and may not know the message is untrue, so of course, don't be aggressive.
  • If you do get a message similar to the one described in the post, don't engage with it, as it may be trying to trick you into handing over information. Make sure to report it to Action Fraud.

Gwent Police offer the following advice on how to avoid being scammed.

They said: "Be alert to online scams and don't click on links that you are not sure about. Never give people personal information or credit card details unless you can confirm who they are.

  • Never open emails that look odd and don’t click on links that you are not sure of
  • Know who you are dealing with if you are providing any personal data. Note that banks will never ask for your account numbers or pin details
  • Be suspicious if anyone asks you for personal or financial information
  • Often scams will try to look like genuine accounts
  • Make sure you don’t provide information online or through social networks that could help people to steal your identity
  • Make sure you are using a secure website for any financial transactions, look for a padlock symbol or 'https' in the address bar to denote a secure site
  • Ensure you have security software that will block spam or phishing emails. Switch your computer's firewall on and keep the anti-virus software up-to-date"