ScamsMarks & Spencer
Which? found a fake Marks & Spencer site that reached someone through a pop-up ad inside a free solitaire app, stuffed with AI-generated photos of cheap ‘designer’ clothes. Its business name and address turned up on 22 other copycat clothing sites — you pay, and you get nothing, a knock-off, or store credit and a ‘return it to China’ runaround. These ads turn up on normal free apps, news sites and socials, not just dodgy-looking pages. You can read the Which? investigation for the full breakdown.
The move
Never shop from an ad — open the retailer’s real app or type their address yourself, and treat a discount that’s too good to be true as a red flag.
Practise it: Would You Click? →
For teachers
Talking about this in class
Open with a quick scenario: someone in Year 10 is scrolling a free game when a pop-up offers huge discounts on M&S clothes. The photos look great, the site looks the part — what should they do before entering a card? The answer to land is that nothing on the ad or the page itself proves it’s real; the only safe route is going direct.
The misconception worth tackling: students often think a site is safe if it looks professional, has a padlock, or shows a brand they recognise. Scammers copy all of that, and AI now makes the product photos look convincing too. A good answer shifts the test away from how the page looks and onto how you got there — if you arrived via an ad, start again by typing the address yourself or opening the official app. A five-minute sort works well here: show a few ‘deals’ and have the class vote ‘type it myself’ or ‘tap the ad’, then unpick why tapping is never the safe default.
If a student says this has already happened to them, lead with reassurance: it isn’t their fault and they’re not in trouble. The practical step is to tell whoever owns the card so the bank can be contacted quickly, then follow the school’s usual process for passing on a concern.