Once Upon A Time There Was a Scam

Once upon a time, a girl called Rapunzel was kept in a tower - stop me if you've heard this one before. She was awoken one day by a ping on her laptop. It was an email from her favourite online shop, saying her account had been temporarily frozen, so she clicked the link and entered the bank account details they were asking for.

Yes, unfortunately this fairy tale has a nasty twist, because Rapunzel was being conned by scammers, who emptied her bank account, and left her without any cash for haircare products.

It's the first of a number of classic fairy tales with a scamming twist you can see being read by David Baddiel on YouTube. They have been put together by Financial Fraud Action, to highlight some common scams, and urge us to think before falling for them - and in this case clicking links in unsolicited emails.

David Baddiel said: "Having had a number of friends and family who have been duped by fraudsters, I decided to get involved in the Take Five campaign. Hopefully, these videos are a fun way of raising awareness of a serious issue. It's no fairy tale being scammed."

See also: Scamwatch: Hatchimal fraud

See also: Young people 'more gullible than most' when scammers call

See also: Scamwatch: Christmas Facebook fraud

The campaign aims to get us to stop and think before acting - and potentially putting ourselves at risk. It suggests five steps to stay safe from the scammers

1. Never disclose security details, such as your PIN or full password. Banks will never ask you for your pin, and will only ask for select letters from passwords. If someone claims to be your bank - or anyone else for that matter - and asks for them all, it's a scam.

2. Don't assume an email request or caller is genuine - people aren't always who they say they are. Take the time to contact the organisation that the individual claims to be calling from - using a different phone and a number you have tracked down from a separate source - and check if they are genuine.

3. Don't be rushed – a bank or genuine organisation won't mind waiting to give you time to stop and think. If someone tells you that you need to act fast to prevent something terrible happening - or take advantage of something that's too good to be true - then they are trying to stop you from taking the time to think it through properly.

4. Listen to your instincts – if something feels wrong then it is usually right to pause and question it.

5. Stay in control – have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for information, cut off the communication and refer them to Action Fraud.