The online chat tool allows people to report online scams and seek advice on how to handle them.

The CAS chat provides specialist one-to-one advice for people who are concerned that they are bei#ng scammed. The service is also dedicated to people who have already lost money due to online scams.

CAS said it will also initiate scam prevention work in order to identify, tackle and raise awareness of online scams.

Derek Mitchell, CAS Chief Executive, said: “Of all the hundreds of thousands of cases the Scottish CAB network sees every year, some of the most distressing are those of people who have lost money to a scam. We have been working for years to try and help raise awareness of scams and to give people the information and support they need to fight back against them.”

He added: “This particular tool we are launching today is an online chat service that offers people advice specifically about online scams. We have found that many people feel embarrassed or not very confident about talking about their experience of scams, so we hope the option of doing it online will make it a bit easier.We want people to use the service to report scams they know about, to ask for advice and support if they have been scammed, or just to chat through how they can best avoid scams, what warning signs to look out for etc.

“People can still come into their local CAB to talk about these issues, but this chat service is just another option they can use. One thing we know is that scammers are not going to give up anytime soon, so we all need to work together to beat them. That means reporting them when we can and arming ourselves with whatever tools we can to make sure we don’t get hit by them.”

CAS said on itswebsite “Some people may feel embarrassed about reporting a scam, or if they have fallen victim to one. But a scam is a crime. So the more people talking about them, and the more awareness we have of what scam are out there, the easier it is to protect everyone.”

The new chat service is available at https://www.cas.org.uk/spotlight/scams-action