Martin Lewis Warns: Amazon Scam Almost Got Him

has revealed he almost fell victim to a scam after years of warning the public about the dangers of financial predators.

The Money Saving Expert, 54, has made scam awareness a major part of his consumer advocacy as well as giving financial tips.

Some of the scams he frequently highlights include investment scams, impersonation scams, phishing emails and texts and social media scams. 

Martin explained that while distracted at work he received a call from someone pretending to work for Amazon claiming his account had been hacked.

Sharing a statement online, Martin wrote: 'Scams can happen to anyone! I nearly got caught yesterday. I was in the studio, rushed in between recording my two podcasts. I got a WhatsApp call from Amazon. Brain elsewhere, man on phone asked had I ordered a new ? as they had reports of suspected fraud.

'I said no. He said no cancel he'd sent me a six-digit code to reply to. I was feeling rushed and pressured, as the team needed to record, but finally enough of my brain turned onto the call and alarm bells started.

'I said I wanted to check first that his call was legit. He got pushy and said if I didn't send the code, he wouldn't stop the iPhone being sent. This felt wrong to me, why wouldn't he want to risk sending a high value item if the customer says it wasn't ordered.

'So while talking and prepping the podcast, I managed to search the telephone number and yes it was recognised as an Amazon scam number.

'Clearly, had I replied with the code he'd sent me he would have then asked for further details and that would've started the data mine. Of course, by answering (not something I normally do for unknown numbers, but did by reflex) I did inadvertently confirm that my number is a real one, so I'll have to cope with that.

'The real lesson here is how sophisticated and plausible it was. And even though I'm obviously hyper-alert to scams as my face is on half of them, catch someone at the wrong time, when they're not paying attention, and anyone can be caught out!'

Martin founded MoneySavingExpert in 2003, which has become one of the UK's largest consumer finance websites. 

The company was sold in 2012, but Martin remains as its Executive Chair and oversees the editorial direction that it goes in.

Away from the company, he hosts The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, as well as being a regular contributor on This Morning.

He has The Martin Lewis Podcast where he explains changes to taxes, benefits, mortgages, savings, energy bills, and other personal finance topics.

Martin has been involved in campaigns that have helped consumers reclaim billions of pounds from unfair bank charges and mis-sold financial products. 

He also campaigns on issues such as energy costs, mortgage protections, council tax collection practices, and scam advertising.

Alongside consumer advice, he frequently alerts the public to fraud, fake investment schemes, phishing attempts, and advertisements that misuse his name or image. 

He has also pushed for stronger regulation of online scam adverts.

Away from work, Martin is married to tech whizz Lara Lewington, 47.

Lara is a tech journalist and leading commentator on artificial intelligence, with many TV appearances on This Morning, Lorraine, TEDx, and the BBC.

Lara did some modelling in her early twenties to promote her TV work.

She soon got her big break at 23 years old as a weather girl for Channel Five News, as well as a chance to interview many celebrities in between.

Reflecting on her first TV gig on Instagram, she shared: 'The noughties! Where it all began… at 23, I was the @channel5_tv weather girl.

'For six years I was doing three forecasts a day, Monday to Friday, interviewing Hollywood stars in between (plus the odd gadget review as tech was my hobby), what a way to spend your 20s!

'So many memories… Tom Cruise rubbing my hands to keep them warm whilst I interviewed him on the red carpet, 'the weather girl of Channel Five' becoming a character on a prime time ITV comedy show (I think I played the part quite well ;)), and surprisingly spotting myself in a Hollywood movie… the list goes on.

'And I made some friends for life at @c5news, what a team we were.'

Throughout the years, Lara has appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth, The Weakest Link, and Let's Dance For Sports Relief.

She also made a surprising cameo in the 2006 film Superman Returns, starring as a weather presenter.

She faced a career blowback in 2024 when her BBC show Click was axed after more than 24 years on air.

The couple share a daughter named Sapphire Susan Lewis, who was born in 2012.