It’s not every day that a trip to the barbers can help protect you against fraud; but that’s exactly what we did in a recent stunt and creative campaign for Lloyds Bank.

In the first half of 2020, there were over 1.4 million cases of fraud, totalling £582 million of financial losses. Despite this, more than eight out of 10 Brits (81%) say they could spot a scam, with men in particular being most confident.

This confidence however, is misplaced, with only 1 in 10 being aware of the most common scams or understanding how social media data is being increasingly used for financial fraud.

Lloyds Bank is committed to fighting fraud. Working with their experts, we designed a campaign to help people protect themselves, by making them think twice about what they share on social media.

Step inside Johnny’s Chop Shop – an iconic barbershop in central London and home to our fraud awareness stunt.

Our barbers scanned the public social media profiles of each unassuming customer, to find out as much as they could about them.

The last place they went on holiday? Check. Marital status? Check. Mum’s name? Check. Armed with this information, along with the scissors and shampoo, our barbers started to drop these anecdotes into conversation, while customers were in the chair. And we filmed the results.

A mix of surprise, shock, nervous laughter and suspicion, as our barbers revealed more and more personal details about their new customers. And if we could find all this out, so could a fraudster, couldn’t they?

This high-impact stunt got everyone talking about online fraud and social media – with 40+ pieces of media coverage, reaching a quarter of all Brits. We further amplified the campaign through a partnership with LadBible, with 300,000 followers taking an Instagram quiz about the latest techniques scammers are using.

And the result? 75% of people who saw the campaign said they will think twice about what they post on social media in future. This increased to 79% of men – a real result.

Want to find out more about this campaign or how we can help you? Contact sophie.young@grayling.com.