Lisa Riley, known for her role on the television series *Emmerdale*, has spoken out about her experience falling victim to an online scam, urging the public to remain vigilant against increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics. The actress, 50, revealed she was deceived by a website posing as a legitimate travel permit service, which prompted her to unknowingly share personal information.

Riley explained that she had successfully completed the travel permit process multiple times before and found nothing initially suspicious about the site. “The website looked completely legitimate and I genuinely believed I was doing the right thing,” she said, highlighting how convincing fraudsters can be. She added that her ordeal has significantly altered her approach to digital communication, making her far more cautious about unexpected contacts via phone, text, or email.

Her warning aligns with recent research conducted by Nationwide and Censuswide, which found that 15% of adults surveyed admitted to having given personal data to someone they later realized was a criminal. On average, respondents reported receiving more than three suspicious phone calls and about two dubious text messages each week. Nearly 19% said they might be inclined to return calls from unfamiliar numbers.

The survey further revealed that over 25% of participants had received text messages claiming to be from their bank within the past year. Similar proportions had encountered fraudulent emails or phone calls purporting to be from financial institutions, with 22% reporting suspicious phone interactions. Nationwide’s internal data indicated the average financial loss from impersonation scams was close to £2,200.

Annya Burskys, head of fraud operations at Nationwide, emphasized that scammers are employing increasingly deceptive methods. “They may disguise a call as coming from a trusted organisation, use personal details to gain your trust or pressure you to act quickly,” she stated. Burskys reinforced that legitimate financial institutions will never ask customers to transfer money to a “safe account,” misrepresent payments, share one-time passcodes, download apps, grant remote access to devices, or respond under urgent pressure.

Riley’s experience serves as a reminder that no one is immune to such scams. “I think people sometimes believe scams only happen to other people, but they can happen to anyone,” she said, underscoring the importance of ongoing awareness in the face of growing fraud risks.