Five sneakiest scam texts fraudsters are plaguing your phone with today

Is believed seven in 10 Britons have received a scam text message at some point, according to TransUnion.

Fraudsters constantly evolve their tactics by tapping into new trends to ensnare people in their scams.

Now one of the UK's biggest phone networks, Virgin Media O2, is warning customers to be extra vigilant of a big jump in the number of new recruitment, car finance and gambling prize scams over text.

This is Money reveals the five most pernicious scam text fraudsters are using to reel in their victims today and how you can protect yourself.

The most commonly reported scam texts currently are gambling or fake prize scams, according to Virgin Media 02 which has analysed thousands of text reported by its customers in August.

Fraudsters will text with a promise of free 'credit on gambling sites, prizes or rewards which can be claimed by clicking a link which directs to a dodgy website.

Once the link has been clicked, criminals encourage people to hand over personal details such as their bank information which must be entered to claim their prize on a fake landing page.

The second most common type of scam text currently being used by scammers is the 'Hi Mum / Hi Dad' scams'.

This is where scammers pretend to be a child reaching out to their parent in distress on a new phone number before asking them to transfer money.

It starts with a simple text along the lines of 'Hi Mum, my phone broke and this is my new number,' and then go on to say they can't access their bank account, and asking for money to keep them afloat.

This is a longstanding scam which This is Money has warned of in the past. It originated on WhatsApp and spread to SMS text messages.

As many as 15 per cent of people have been targeted by this type of scam, with 13 per cent of those who get the messages ultimately falling victim to a fraudster, according to data from card payments provider Visa

It is a form of authorised push payment, or APP, scam, a type of fraud that is increasingly common. Over hald of the adult population have been targeted by an APP scam before.

There has been a wave of parking fine scams over the summer and fake parking fine texts have seen an uptick according to Virgin Media 02.

Scammers will send texts claiming you owe money for an unpaid parking ticket.

They threaten their victom will receive significant fines or that theit license will be revoked if they do not fay a car parking fine via a link contained in the text.

This link will take people to a fake website where they will be prompted to make an immediate payment.

Also on the rise are so called recruitment scams where fraudsters say they're hiring for lucrative positions which don not exist.

These scams are mostly sent through a 'spoofed' mobile number where fraudsters copy another phone number, sometimes that of a legitimate business, to disguise their identity.

These texts will typically contain a link a link to Whatsapp where people will receive a messaged from the 'recruiter', a scammer lying in wait.

This may lead to task scams which claim to offer money for completing tasks such as completing surveys or reviewing products. You may eventually be asked to invest money to complete more tasks and never be able to withdraw your 'returns.'

Scammers will encourage people to share personal information and may ask them to pay fees for their services to help secure the job.

Following the Financial Conduct Authority's announcement that it will consult on a potential car finance compensation scheme, criminals have been attempting to profit by sending car finance compensation scam texts.

Scammers are claiming to offer compensation in exchange for personal details including your name, address, date of birth and bank information.

Scammers will encourage people to share personal information and may ask them to pay fees for their services to help access compensation.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has had to issue a warning to consumers of scammers posing as car finance lenders over the phone.

It's important to be aware that there's no car finance compensation scheme in place yet and car finance lenders are not yet contacting customers about compensation.

Always be wary of messages that come out of the blue and especially if they're from an uknown number.

Stay calm even if you are being pressured to send money or provide personal details.

If the message asks for information or for an urgent payment this should be a red flag that it is a scam.

You should never follow a link from a message that you don't trust as it could be infected with malware.

You should report a suspicious text by forwarding it to 7726. Many phone providers are part of a scheme which will investigate scam texts and block them if they are found to be fraudsters.

Murray Mackenzie, director of fraud prevention at Virgin Media O2, said: 'Scammers aren't sticking to old tricks; they're evolving fast, tapping into trending news and targeting vulnerable people with fake prizes, job offers and financial compensation schemes.

'At Virgin Media O2 we're doing everything we can and have already blocked more than 600 million scam texts from reaching our customers so far this year. With fraud continuing to increase, we're reminding people to remain vigilant.'