Martin Lewis warns people about Twitter scam

Martin Lewis has warned his followers about falling for scams on Twitter.

In a post, the Money Saving Expert highlighted a scam on the social network in the guise of a travel business that used an image of him on This Morning.

Lewis tweeted: "Beware criminals. I've reported this scam. Do not go near it.

"Let's hope @Twitter takes action. I've rarely seen these here before (lots on other socials). I hope it isn't the start of a bad trend."

The original post shows Lewis on the ITV show talking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby with the caption 'After all, many have already earned money for personal needs on his advice'.

Lewis had earlier warned that Elon Musk's plans for Twitter could increase scams on the social network.

Regarding Twitter's paid-for verification service, the broadcaster said: “Having campaigned against PAID-FOR scam ads for years, I’m concerned at rumours Twitter will turn the verified #blueTick into a paid-for option."

Lewis added: “Scammers, shysters, criminals are likely to be happy to pay for, and manipulate this, for a veneer of legitimacy."

In March 2022, Lewis praised the government's new online safety bill, but warned that it would fix the issue of 'scam adverts' online.

A campaign by Lewis saw the Government update its draft of the online safety bill to require online platforms to protect users from fraudulent, paid-for adverts.

But Lewis told MPs discussing the bill that the success of new laws would depend on enforcement, describing the current enforcement of laws governing online content as “flaccid”.

He said: “There are many things that would improve that, certainly including far better resourcing for policing so people who do actually scam individuals at least get arrested and possibly even punished and sentenced for doing so, which of course doesn’t happen at the moment because scamming is a crime you can do with near impunity.”

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Lewis has long been an advocate for consumers and earlier this week, doled out some advice for shoppers ahead of Black Friday.

Lewis' nugget of advice was: "My Black Friday shopping memo...If you were going to buy it anyway and it's half price, you've saved 50%. If you weren't going to buy it, but do because it's half price you've wasted 100%."

In 2021, around £2.7bn was spent in the UK on Black Friday alone, with the average person spending an estimated £275 on the retail event.

Lewis also won a National Television Award in October for best TV expert. During his acceptance speech, he warned about the UK's cost of living crisis.

At the time, he said: "It’s been a pretty horrible year financially. I mean, the energy crisis has been disastrous and left many people with terrible issues and mental health problems.

"I’m afraid the next year with the mortgage problem and the knock-on to rent is going to be pretty bad. And you know what? We need somebody to get a grip on the economy and put things a little bit back."

Watch below: Martin Lewis warns about the 'squeezed middle' after Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement