In this episode of the Weekend Essay podcast, Lois Vallely recounts her experience with a recent email hack and discusses the growing prevalence of phishing scams. She highlights the vulnerabilities financial firms face and shares practical advice on protecting sensitive information better. Join Lois as she emphasizes the importance of being aware of cyber risks and adopting proactive measures to ensure cybersecurity in both personal and professional settings. Listen now:

A WOMAN has revealed how she landed a huge £1 million jackpot – only to be told she couldn’t claim it due to a little-known Lotto rule.

Terri Picton-Clark, 72, said she and husband John, 72, decided to pick up a Lucky Dip ticket while they were on their way to browse a hardware shop.

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The grandmother, who works at an equine therapy centre, said:  “On our way to our kitchen appointment, we stopped off to get some petrol and John bought a Lottery ticket – he always buys a Lucky Dip.

“He said to me, ‘you never know, we might win the Lottery’, to which I replied ‘Oh, you always say that!’.”

The following Monday, John returned to the garage shop to check his winnings – but was confused by the cashier’s response.

The employee purportedly said: “You are going to have to call Camelot, you’ve won too much money.”

For small lottery prizes, winners can normally claim their earnings from the shop where they bought the ticket.

At the time of Terri and John’s win, larger prizes – between £500 and £50,000 – needed to be claimed at participating Post Office branches, though these now have to be claimed online.

Because of this rule, Terri quickly twigged that the couple may have landed a huge prize – but little did she know quite how big.

Recalling John’s phone conversation with the lottery operator, she said: “I was working on a Zoom call when John came in waving the ticket about, and I mouthed to him ‘what are you doing?’ but continued the call, ignoring him.

“We were thinking it was around £50,000, but when Camelot confirmed it was £1 million, John was very calm as usual and I was the one jumping up and down!”

Despite the confusing rule delaying the couple claiming their prize, they were delighted with the result.

Terri said: “John gave the shop assistant at the garage who sold him the ticket £100 and said to her, ‘make sure you don’t do anything sensible with the money’.”

The pair then enjoyed a few bottles of champagne, with Terri joking: “John didn’t get up until 3pm the next day!”

They have since used some of the money to support family and friends.

The horse lover and amateur ballroom dancer said: “We’ve helped friends who are home-schooling their children.

“We bought another laptop for them to make things a little easier and we also bought one for my grandchild to help my son.

“To be able to tell friends who have always been there for you that you can help them feels amazing.”

The couple also shared that they were thinking of either a trip to Antarctica or a skiing holiday with the grandkids.

Terri said: “I would love to go again, if I can still do it! John has never been on a winter holiday.”

John and Terri first met 25 years ago while working together, but their relationship didn’t work out with Terri describing John as “the one that got away”.

However, shortly after the huge Beast from the East storm, the estranged lovers reunited.

Terri continued: “I came home from a really dreadful date and wondered if that was all there was out there for me.

“I went back on the dating site for one last look and came across John who was stranded in the same area due to the blizzard.

“I thought to myself, ‘I know him’, so I messaged him and asked if he remembered me.

“He replied and said, ‘Of course I remember you and you’re looking even better than you did all those years ago!’

“We met up that weekend and the rest is history.”

Terri won five ballroom and two Latin titles during her amateur dancing career.

What are my chances of winning the lottery?

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EVERYONE wants to know how to beat the odds and win the lottery.

But unfortunately, the lottery is a game of luck and there are no tips or tricks that can guarantee you’ll take home a top prize.

The odds show how likely you are to win any particular prize – the lower the number, the better the odds.

For example, odds of 1 in 10 are better than odds of 1 in 100 or 1 in 1,000.

There are several major lottery games in the UK including Lotto by the National Lottery, Camelot’s EuroMillions and Thunderball.

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Chances of winning the Lotto

Lotto by the National Lottery is a game where you pick six numbers from 1 to 59. You can play up to seven lines of numbers on each slip.

The game costs £2 to play per slip.

The odds of winning any prize on the Lotto are 1 in 9.3.

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But to win the jackpot on the Lotto, the odds are considerably slimmer.

To bag the top prize, you need to have six matching balls. The odds of doing this and scooping the jackpot are currently 1 in 45,057,474.

The next highest prize of £1,000,000 is for getting five main matching balls plus the bonus ball.

The odds of taking home the million pound prize are 1 in 7,509,579 – far higher than the jackpot, but still unlikely.

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The odds of taking home £1,750 for getting five main numbers without the bonus ball are 1 in 2,180, while you have a 1 in 97 chance of bagging £140 for getting four main numbers.

Your chances of taking home £30 for getting 3 main numbers are much better at 1 in 97.

And you have a roughly 1 in 10 chance of getting a free lucky dip for 2 matching numbers.

Chances of winning the EuroMillions

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The EuroMillions costs £2.50 to play and is open on Tuesdays and Fridays.

To play, you must pick five numbers from 1-50 and two “Lucky Stars” from 1-12. Players with the most matching numbers win the top prizes.

Your chance of bagging the EuroMillions jackpot is even slimmer than winning the top Lotto prize.

This is because it generally has higher jackpots on offer, meaning it attracts more attention.

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Currently, the odds of matching five numbers and two lucky stars – the top win – stand at 1 in 139,838,160.

The average jackpot prize is £57,923,499, according to EuroMillions.

The odds of winning the second top prize for matching 5 balls and a lucky star, which is typically around £262,346, are 1 in 6,991,908.

The chances of taking home the third prize for five matching balls, with an average payout of £26,277, are 1 in 3,107,515.

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For four matching balls with two lucky stars, it’s 1 in 621,503, and for four balls with one lucky star, it’s 1 in 31,076. These come with an average prize of £1,489 and £95, respectively.

Chances of winning the Thunderball

Thunderball is another game run by National Lottery where you pick five numbers and one “Thunderball”. It costs just £1 to play and you can enter up to four times a week.

The jackpot of £500,000 for matching five balls plus the Thunderball is 1 in 8,060,598.

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Your odds of bagging the next highest prize of £5,000 for matching five balls is currently 1 in 620,046, while the chances of winning £250 for four balls plus the Thunderball is 1 in 47,416.

You have the best chance of winning £3 for matching the Thunderball, with odds of 1 in 29.

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With the current pension landscape changing significantly in line with increases in life expectancy in the UK, planning for a sustainable retirement income is of utmost importance. The State Pension (Tier 1) presents fiscal challenges for the UK government so as longevity increases, the eligible age also increases. In an attempt to alleviate financial difficulties in later life, here are some useful tips to consider when planning retirement income in workplace pensions (Tier 2) and private/personal pensions (Tier 3).

Tier 2 – Workplace pensions

These schemes offer the dual benefit of employer contribution and tax relief to pension contributions. For individuals automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, the minimum contribution from employers is 3% and 5% for employees (8% minimum total contribution) for the 24/25 tax year.

Drawing from your workplace pension

The benefit of joining a Defined Benefit (DB) pension scheme is that it offers an indexed link, and guaranteed pension income for life. The normal retirement age to access pension income is usually set at 60 – 65 but depending on the rules of the scheme, you might be able to access your pension from age 55. DB schemes generally offer better income levels with no investment risk to individuals. In the event of employer insolvency, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) ensures that members receive a portion of their benefits.

Access to Direct Contribution (DC) pension pots is usually through income/pension drawdown. With investments in this scheme linked to the stock market, there is the risk that funds may increase or decrease in value. Access to pension pots in this scheme is set to a minimum age of 55. However, you may be able to draw your pension early based on the rules of the scheme or if you are retiring early due to ill-health. Pension scheme payments that are made earlier than the minimum age may attract tax charges of up to 55%

Tier 3 – Private/Personal pensions

Personal pensions – these represent a DC scheme where individuals are able to make regular payments or lump sum payments to a chosen pension provider who will invest the money on their behalf. The amount paid into this scheme will help to determine the size of your pension pot but such investments are susceptible to market risks and usually attract administration charges by the pension provider. Contributions made to private pensions benefit from tax relief of 20%, which makes them a good savings option.

Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP)– SIPPS provides a tax-efficient savings account which offers individuals flexible ways in which to invest their own savings based on their risk tolerance. Money can also be paid in as a lump sum or on a regular basis and tax reliefs of 20% (basic rate taxpayer), 40% (higher rate taxpayer) or 45% (additional rate taxpayer) are applied on SIPPs contributions for those under the age of 75 and are UK residents. SIPPs are also accessible to non-tax payers and offers a tax relief of 20%. Tax reliefs for SIPPs are capped at £60,000 for the 24/25 tax year, with any pension payments above that limit subjected to a higher rate of income tax. Unlike personal pensions, SIPPS provide greater choice and control over the ways in which funds are invested. Investment choices include shares, bonds, exchange-traded funds and unit trusts. The variety of options available with SIPPs indicate the potential for a higher level of return on investments, which also increases the risk of the investment.

Drawing your private pension

The age at which these pensions can be taken is usually at age 55 (although this is expected to rise to 57 by 2028). Lump sum payments can be taken but only 25% of this amount will be tax free. A useful option would be purchase an annuity, which is a life policy that converts money from a pension fund into a guaranteed income for a fixed duration or until death.

Other option

Lifetime ISA (LISA) offers an attractive retirement savings option for individuals between the ages of 18 and 40, and can be used to complement existing pension savings. It currently allows savings of up to £4,000 per year with the added benefit of a government bonus of 25% (up to £1,000 per year). For example £250 on contributions of £1000. It must be noted however that the £4,000 LISA limit is included in your annual Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) limit of £20,000 for the 24/25 tax year.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is remaining tight-lipped over the timing of its recently announced review of consolidation in the advice sector.

On 7 October, the regulator unveiled plans to examine consolidation, emphasising the need for strict approval processes when firms acquire or increase control over regulated entities.

Despite speculation that the review may have been prompted by concerns over rushed deals ahead of potential capital gains tax (CGT) changes, the FCA declined to confirm or deny this.

When asked by Money Marketing if this was the reason, the FCA’s head of advisers, wealth and pensions, Nick Hulme, stated he would not “specifically answer the question”.

In an interview at the Consumer Duty Alliance conference in Birmingham today (11 October), Hulme added: “I think we wanted to really reiterate the point that you need to get FCA approval before a change of control.

“We wanted to make it as clear as we possibly could that this is our expectation and if we find out that it hasn’t been we will act.”

“The ‘why now’ comes out of a number of reasons.

“One is, it’s been a while – seven years – since we last ‘kicked the tyres’ and had a look at this.

“Consolidation comes up a lot, sometimes from the consolidators about what other consolidators are doing, so I think it’s important that we have a look at it.”

Earlier in the day, Hulme told delegates: “I really want to stress that we are agnostic to whether consolidation is a good or bad thing.”

In a letter to advice and investment firm bosses, the FCA said that while industry consolidation can provide benefits, various types of harm can occur where this is not done in a “prudent manner”.

“Where we receive notifications from individuals or firms to acquire or increase control in regulated firms, we will assess and challenge their suitability and the financial soundness of the acquisition,” it said.

It added that buyers must “notify us and get our approval to acquire or increase control in a firm we regulate”.

Where acquisitions complete without prior regulatory approval, “we may use our enforcement powers to object to the transaction or initiate criminal proceedings”.

M&S customers have blasted the retailer for hiking its popular Gastropub dine-in deal by 25%.

The revamped offer now includes creations by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge – but shoppers are still furious that the cost has risen from £12 to £15.

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The deal for two – which includes a main, side and a starter or desert – is among the priciest of M&S’ dine-in offers.

There’s also a pasta bundle for £7, an Indian meal for £15 and a slow-cooked one for £12.

But the Gastropub offer has hit shoppers radars in recent weeks after it was revamped at the end of September.

One fan complained to the retailer: “So food inflation is flattening or in some instances reversing. So you have put your dine-in meal deal price up 25%? (£12 to £15).”

Another added: “I have no doubts about the quality and having awesome chefs endorsing it adds a nice touch, but I’d prefer you kept the pricing reasonable.

“Gastro dine in from £12 to £15 is a noticeable hike.”

A third said: “I expect prices to rise every now and again but a 25% increase in the Gastropub meal deal in a week is just a little beyond the pale.”

Others complained that the deal previously offered fish and chips together as a main dish, but now the dish is only haddock and the chips must be bought separately as a side.

One said: “Extremely disappointing to see that the Gastropub dine-in deal has not only increased a whopping 25% to £15, but the chips have also been removed from the haddock and chips box.

“Bad deal, I didn’t bother buying.”

M&S – which has highlighted “British Beef Cheeks” and Kerridge’s Treacle Tart as top picks of the range – said the offer was intended to “bring the flavours of your favourite restaurant home”.

Analysis by The Sun has revealed that many of the dishes present in the relaunched offer were included in M&S’ old Gastropub deal, including lamb moussaka, cottage pie, chicken forestiere and lasagne.

Meanwhile triple cooked chips, greens, emperor carrots and dauphinoise potatoes remain as sides, as well as runny scotch eggs and prawn cocktail for starter options and tarte au citron and sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

But the retailer said 95% of the dishes are new or had been improved and all now only use selected M&S Foodhall ingredients or specific ingredients from its Gastropub larder list.

Tom Kerridge has also brought in various new dishes into the deal, including a pork and bacon pâté, British beef cheeks, treacle tart and molten cookie dough.

How to save money on your food shop

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:

Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.

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Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.

Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.

Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.

Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.

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Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.

Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.

Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.

But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.

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Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.

“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.

The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.

Some have praised the overhaul, with one fan enthusing on X: “This new Tom Kerridge Gastropub range from @marksandspencer is absolutely banging, btw.”

Expert Amir Mousavi, a food consultant at the Good Food Studio in London, suspects rising costs were behind the hike.

He said: “Supermarket meal deals, traditionally, run as low-margin permanent promotions.

“Retailers often make 5% to 10% less margin on these offers compared to full-priced products, and their white label producers also sacrifice 5% to 10% margin.

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“With rising costs of goods over the last few years, margins have naturally shrunk for both retailers and suppliers.

“Meal deals are not as commercially viable as they once were, necessitating a price restructure to maintain profitability.”

M&S said: “As part of our exciting recent relaunch of our Gastropub range we’ve improved the quality of our dishes to ensure our customers get restaurant- and pub-quality food at home.

“As part of this we have improved 95% of our dishes and also incorporated what we call the Gastropub larder – where all our dishes use ONLY ingredients from this select list.”

“So, for example, rather than any butter being used, the only butter in these dishes are M&S Salted/Unsalted British Butter, M&S West Country Butter Sweet Cream Butter, or M&S West Country Brue Valley Butter.

“All of these are found in our Foodhalls and ensure that the quality and taste is the same across every dish.

“We have also included the exciting new Tom Kerridge range within the Dine In deal, meaning you can get Michelin star-inspired food in the comfort of your own home and at a just a fraction of the price compared to a restaurant.”

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

A few weeks ago I had an absolute nightmare of a day when my work email account got hacked.

The hacker sent out a message to around 500 of my email contacts saying: “Good morning, I hope this email finds you well. Please see attached for your records. Alternatively, you can also access by copying the highlighted link and pasting in browser: [with a link that I’m obviously not going to post here]. It would be greatly appreciated if you could review at your earliest opportunity. Many thanks, Lois”.

They even used my email signature, and I found out from a few people who had replied to “me” that the hacker had replied to them assuring them that the email was definitely from me and the link was fine to click.

They also created an Outlook “rule”, which meant that all emails with an @ sign in the address would be immediately deleted. This meant I did not receive any emails from about 11am when the attack happened, until the wonderful IT team retrieved all of my lost emails. It also meant I assumed I’d lost access to my emails.

I felt pretty helpless. All I could do was post on LinkedIn telling people to delete the email and not click the link and hope the majority would see it.

Most people, thankfully, realised it was a scam. Anyone who knows me knows I do not use ‘email language’ like “I hope this finds you well”. And I certainly never request things at another person’s “earliest opportunity”. But I know some people clicked the link and I have no idea what the hacker was after. Money, I presume.

Our company IT team sorted it all out pretty quickly and got me back access to my email account. But there was a big chunk taken out of my working day where I didn’t have access even to my laptop while they investigated and changed my passwords.

I’m still not sure how this happened. I’m generally pretty good at sniffing out a scam, so I don’t think it was due to anything I clicked on.

I have noticed a marked increase in phishing emails coming into my inbox recently, and they often trick even my email spam filter.

They are easy to avoid if you’re cynical and paying attention, but I fear for older people or anyone in vulnerable circumstances, who are much more likely to fall for these kinds of scams.

And things are getting worse. An article by the International Monetary Fund back in April noted that cyber-attacks have more than doubled since the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is largely because hackers are constantly evolving. A report by security software company Egress – published in 2021 – pointed out that cybercriminals are constantly devising new ways to bypass traditional anti-phishing technologies.

In fact, it said, 98% of all phishing cases rely on social engineering, where victims are manipulated into supplying confidential information to a supposedly legitimate sender.

Financial advice firms may be wondering what all of this has to do with them.

Fraser Jack, founder of Australian firm The Cyber Collective, used to run a financial planning practice before he became a consultant. He says that, back then, he thought cybercrime was a “vague concept” that was not relevant to him or his business. But a 2019 report by Boston Consulting Group found that financial services organisations are 300 times more likely to be the victim of a cyber-attack than other types of companies.

And, in September last year, international law firm RPC revealed that UK financial services firms had reported a more than a threefold increase in the number of cyber-security breaches to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) in 2023 compared to the previous year.

It said that during the year to June 2023, 640 cyber security breaches were reported to the ICO, up from the 187 from the year to June 2022. The pensions sector saw the biggest rise, from six in 2021/22 to 246 in 2022/23.

The IMF article said attacks on financial firms account for nearly one-fifth of the total. Banks are the most exposed but advice firms, which hold a huge amount of client data, are certainly not immune.

“In the wild west of cybercrime, someone trying to steal your client data is less of a case of ‘if’ and more of a case of ‘when’,” Fraser Jack wrote, in an article on The Cyber Collective’s website.

It makes sense. I know if I were a cybercriminal I’d target financial advice businesses, with all their minted clients. If you have no morals, why wouldn’t you go for them?

We know it goes on. Back in February last year, Aviva-owned Succession Wealth, which has around 200 advisers and 20,000 clients, suffered a cyber-attack, off the back of which it said it had launched an investigation and “notified the appropriate authorities”. It also introduced “further security measures”.

At the time the company would not elaborate on the nature of the attack, or give details about the security measures it had brought in.

This was a high-profile attack that was widely reported on in the media. But it is by no means the only attack of this nature on a financial advice firm.

Compliance consultancy B-Compliant said in December last year that an advice firm had contacted it to report that it had been targeted by a phishing email purporting to be from the Financial Conduct Authority. The recipient had noticed a spelling mistake and reached out to see if it was genuine. It was not.

This, B-Compliant warned, goes to show that hackers aren’t just targeting big firms. Everyone within the sector is fair game and SMEs in particular can be seen as low-hanging fruit, as they are thought to have less infrastructure and controls in place.

Cybersecurity is a key priority for the Bank of England and the financial regulators.

Late last year, the BoE insisted that all financial firms should be testing their resilience to cyber-attacks through CBEST – a targeted assessment that allows regulators and firms to better understand weaknesses and vulnerabilities and take “remedial actions”.

“True and meaningful cyber resilience cannot be delivered or achieved without a whole-organisational, continuous effort,” it said.

“We strongly encourage firms/FMIs to build and reinforce resilience through a strong foundation of cyber hygiene practices.”

As technology becomes more advanced and the world becomes more connected, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated. Financial advice firms of all sizes must be ready.