The world gets faster but it can make us very vulnerable as scammers and the unscrupulous, trick us into making decisions too quickly. The banks are not always helpful if customers are defrauded.

It is not only the elderly who are at risk. We all have to make sure we do not click on links, open attachments or accept phone calls from unknown senders.

Busy people are probably the most vulnerable as they do not allow time to check things out.

Just as dangerous are the friendly faces of stage and screen who encourage us to put our savings in special accounts or to take advantage of crypto currencies for the first time. These trustworthy faces are anything but. The celebrities know nothing about the investments being advertised their faces are being used by criminals to get us to trust them with our money.

And once you have sent them your money it will disappear - probably out of the country - and in many cases the victims do not realise for years that they have been defrauded.

Every time we check our emails we are in danger if we allow ourselves to be rushed.

When we make holiday bookings we need to be just as careful as there are lots of criminals trying to tempt holidaymakers with super accommodation at bargain prices. Take time to do your research and protect yourself.

Parking your car can also be a battleground with criminals and while supermarkets are not run by criminals they are not as open and honest as they used to be.

Just take time to keep yourself and your money safe.

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Home insurance bills are racing ahead. It means we all have to do our research early and be ready to move fast when renewing our policies if we want to save money. With average increases of 42% we need to check every aspect of our cover.

Too many people pay too much for their buildings' insurance because they insure for the sale price of their home and not the rebuild cost. Lots of people are also encouraged to pay for cover they do not need and may even pay twice for specific cover such as travel insurance without realising. And even worse they may pay for travel cover that they will not be able to claim on because they are too old.

Most important of all do not allow your policy to auto renew. This allows the insurance company to charge you what they like.

And when you think you have the best value policy do not allow the insurance company to charge you up to 40% more by offering you so-called easy terms. Paying annually is far cheaper than in 12 instalments.

Renewing insurance policies takes time but it is time well spent and should allow you to cut the cost.

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Cyber attacks and IT glitches are happening more often, affecting millions of customers, and they can put our money in danger.

Not only are hackers after our money, but fraudsters are ready to use news of IT glitches to persuade us to hand over our account details.

They pretend to be from our banks, credit card companies or other organisations. They are very apologetic that our information is in danger and tell customers what to do to make sure our money is safe.

They are nicely spoken and persuasive. Put the phone down. Do not open any links.

Mobile phone thefts have overtaken cash and payment cards as the items most stolen from individuals in the UK. As our phones are also used as our bank accounts, payment cards, travel and event tickets they also put us in danger of losing far more than the value of their phones.

Banks will be compelled to pay compensation to customers from October. Until then you have to be even more careful as some banks try to pay very few people who lose money.

In the meantime keep your phone safe, believe no cold caller even if they appear to be calling from your bank. Fraud is the leading crime in the UK. Do not lose money.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.