Older and vulnerable people are being targeted by “cruel” friendship fraudsters online, one of the UK’s biggest banks has warned.

TSB said criminals are preying on people’s loneliness and desire to make a connection.

People often make just one payment in such scams, but in one case, 60 payments had been made over four years, the bank said.

In this case, a customer in their late 60s was contacted on a message board, where the scammer posed as a young person looking to flee an abusive family and needing financial help.

The relationship spanned four years before it was reported.

In another case, a customer in their late 70s lost more than £4,000 after being targeted on social media.

After forming a friendship, the individual said they were unwell and urgently required help with medical bills.

As a result, the customer sent a series of payments and gift cards, before contact fizzled out and they realised it was fraud.

In a third case, a customer in their 70s befriended a new contact, and after regular conversations the scammer threatened to stop talking to them unless they sent gift cards and payments.

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TSB said the average loss per case of impersonation fraud, which involves any form of fraud in which scammers pretend to be a person or an organisation, is more than £3,100, according to the bank’s data.

TSB fraud expert Steph Harrison said: “Scammers are targeting older and vulnerable people’s life savings, by preying on their goodwill and desire for company and friendship, with the cruel and fake promise of online companionship.”

He said members of the public can help by checking in on friends and family, and warned those seeking online friendship to be wary whenever money is involved.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “So-called friendship fraud is an especially horrible and insidious type of scam and it’s good to see it highlighted in this way to help put us all on our guard.

“Older people who are lonely or bereaved are particularly vulnerable to being targeted, as criminals seek to exploit their isolation and yearning for friendship to part them from their money.”

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Love Island star victim of scammers

She added: “Being scammed in this way can have devastating consequences with victims suffering catastrophic losses, destroying not just their finances but their health, wellbeing and capacity to trust other people.”

The charity works with older people across the county to help keep them safe from scams, Ms Abrahams said.

Christina Haack is shaking off the rumors and soaking up the sun.

“The Flip Off” star turned heads on Instagram Monday, sharing a radiant poolside photo from a tropical getaway. The 42-year-old lifestyle expert showcased a cream-colored crochet bikini featuring delicate floral details, paired with a matching mesh sarong.

Haack kept her vacation look casual and sporty, accessorizing with a black baseball cap with the logo for her champagne brand, Clé Cachée, and oversized aviator sunglasses. Holding a glass and a bottle of her own Clé Cachée bubbly, the mother of three appeared relaxed as she posed on a white towel with a scenic ocean backdrop.

The latest photo follows a flurry of social media speculation regarding the reality star’s relationship status. The rumor mill began spinning after Haack attended HGTV’s “Bachelor Mansion Takeover” event in Los Angeles March 12.

Christina Haack showcases a relaxed vacation look in a cream crochet bikini while promoting her champagne brand, Clé Cachée, in a photo shared to Instagram March 16, 2026. (Christina Haack/Instagram)

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At the event, the “Flip or Flop” alum wore a conspicuous bauble on her wedding finger, leading to reports suggesting she was ready to head back to the altar after three previous divorces. On March 15, Haack took to her Instagram stories to call out a report featuring a headline that claimed she “flashes a ring … as she says she WOULD get married again.”

“Bad reporting,” Haack wrote in response to the engagement reports, according to People. She clarified the jewelry causing the stir was actually a meaningful piece she has owned for a decade.

Christina Haack at HGTV’s first-ever event at the Bachelor Mansion to celebrate “Bachelor Mansion Takeover” March 12 in Los Angeles. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for HGTV)

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“That ring (that I’ve worn for almost 10 years) is a Cartier love ring (a gift to myself) with my kids initials,” she shared. The mother of three also pushed back on the rumor that she was looking to head back to the altar. 

“And ‘Marriage is just not on my radar right now,’ was my exact quote,” she reminded her followers, correcting the record.

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The design, a staple from the luxury jeweler, serves as a tribute to her three children. Haack shares her eldest, daughter Taylor, 15, and son Brayden, 10, with her first husband, Tarek El Moussa. She also shares her youngest son, 6-year-old Hudson, with her second husband, Ant Anstead.

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The “Flip Off” star, 42, strikes a pose in a moss green gown at the Bachelor Mansion. Haack later clarified that her jewelry choice was a decade-old gift to herself. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for HGTV)

Despite the ring clarification, Haack confirmed her romance with current boyfriend Christopher Larocca is in a good place. Speaking with ExtraTV at the same HGTV event this month, she gushed about the relationship.

“Um, everything’s going good, going strong and, like, just nice, easy, great partner,” she said.

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The star’s love life has long been a fixture of public interest. Haack first rose to prominence alongside El Moussa, whom she married in 2009. After their 2018 divorce, she married British TV personality Ant Anstead, followed by real estate agent Josh Hall in 2021. Her split from Hall led to a contentious legal battle, with Haack even hiring powerhouse divorce attorney Laura Wasser to navigate a trial that wasn’t finalized until May 2025.

Amid the past drama, Haack has successfully navigated the waters of co-parenting and working alongside her exes. She stars with Tarek and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, on the house-flipping competition series “The Flip Off.”

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Graves which are more than a century old could be reused in cemeteries across England and Wales under new proposals – but relatives will be able to object and war graves will be protected. 

The Law Commission has recommended modernising laws, some of which have not been altered for more than 170 years,- to tackle a burial space shortage.

Reusing old graves is already permitted in London council cemeteries, Church of England churchyards, and some cemeteries with their own laws.

But the changes see such powers extended to other burial grounds across England and Wales.

Concerns had previously been raised about the graves of soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars being disturbed as part of the proposed legal overhaul.

However, the commission said the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will always be able to object.

“As a consequence, our recommended reforms to the law would result in no Commonwealth war grave ever being reused,” the commission’s report, published today, said.

It also recommended that, for the first time, post-war military graves that fall under the remit of the Ministry of Defence would also be protected through a right of objection.

The overall recommendations “respond directly to contemporary challenges, including the shortage of burial space”, and the “complexities” that arise from Victorian-era legislation, said Professor Lisa Webley, commissioner for property, family and trust law.

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The commission recommends allowing centuries-old burial grounds, closed under Victorian laws, to be reopened, giving rise to the possibility of local parish churchyards being used for burials again.

No grave could be reused a century after the last burial – longer than the current 75 years.

Additionally, relatives would have a year to object to the reuse of a family member’s grave.

Reuse could see remains currently in a grave moved deeper down, with the new remains buried above.

The commission said, however, that the remains left in a grave “must be no more than skeletal in order for the grave to be reused”.

It said a relative’s objection would prevent a grave being reused for another 25 years.

A new requirement for a minimum of two feet of soil above a coffin has also been proposed.

The commission said this would lead to a more consistent approach, as there is currently no law on this aspect in a lot of burial grounds.

The proposals also cover the issue of uncollected ashes, which was outlined last year by the National Association of Funeral Directors.

The trade body estimated there were up to 300,000 sets of unclaimed ashes in the UK.

It said the reasons for this are varied, from family disputes, to illness, and a desire to place two sets of ashes together.

The commission said: “Since funeral directors have no legal authority to scatter or bury them, and crematoria have no duty to accept their return, these uncollected ashes end up sitting on the shelves of funeral directors’ premises indefinitely.”

If the ashes remain uncollected after six months, during which attempts have been made by the funeral director to contact the family, they could – under the proposals – be returned to the cremation authority, which would have to accept them under a statutory duty.

The commission has recommended the cremation authority could charge the funeral director for the return of ashes, “at a level to be set by the government”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government will carefully consider the recommendations set out in the Law Commission’s report and will formally respond in due course.”

Republican lawmakers have renewed a push in 2026 to allow guns on college campuses, amid a recent rash of school shootings across the country.

A convicted felon tied to ISIS opened fire last week inside a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia, killing one teacher and wounding two others before he was brought down by fellow ROTC cadets.

In December, a gunman opened fire inside an engineering building at Brown University in Rhode Island, killing two students and injuring nine others during final exams. The suspect fled and later killed an MIT professor at his home in the Boston suburbs.

While it is unclear if a gun-toting citizen would have been able to subdue the shooters before anyone was injured in the recent incidents, supporters argue armed students or faculty could stop attacks more quickly.

Bystanders are evacuated from Old Dominion University’s campus after reports of an active shooter on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Norfolk, Va.  (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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On the other hand, critics of campus carry claim more guns on campus increase the risk of violence and accidents.

Lawmakers will debate bills related to loosening gun regulations at colleges in at least eight states this year — including Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.

In Florida, a proposed state Senate bill would allow students, faculty and staff to carry guns on public college campuses. A similar state House bill, which is pending the governor’s approval, authorizes trained faculty and staff to carry on campus.

Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Kate Payne)

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Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Fla., who was taking classes at Florida State University in 2025 when a gunman killed multiple people on campus, said students felt helpless during the attack.

“You could tell from a lot of the back and forth that they felt very helpless, and they wanted something. They wanted to help,” Salzman told WFSU Public Media. “They wanted to be able to save their friends, and they didn’t want to see this happening.”

Lawmakers in Louisiana introduced a broad campus-carry bill that would allow any legal adult to carry guns on college campuses, removing higher education institutions from the list of gun-free zones.

Damon Thueson shows a holster at a gun concealed carry permit class concealed carry permit class put on by “USA Firearms Training” on December 19, 2015, in Provo, Utah. (Getty Images)

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State Republican Rep. Danny McCormick, one of the bill’s authors, claimed the legislation would align campus laws with Louisiana’s existing carry law.

More than a dozen states already allow some form of on-campus carry, including: Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

However, the regulations vary from state to state.

Prior to West Virginia’s January 2023 decision to allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns on college and university campuses, the presidents of West Virginia State University, Concord University and Shepherd University said they had “serious reservations” about what they alleged were “significant public safety challenges and financial burdens” the bill would present.

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“Introducing firearms into this already challenging environment could have unintended consequences,” the presidents said.

They also alleged that access to firearms would increase suicide risks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kevin Hart isn’t happy with his newest wax likeness.

“WTTTTFFFFF …. What did I do to these people,” the 46-year-old comedian wrote on his Instagram last Saturday after sharing a video of the wax statue that showed the figure wearing a gold chain and leather jacket with outstretched arms. “I know that ain’t Kevin Hart,” writing on the video said, which was set to the theme from “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

“This is an attack…. Who in the f— is this??????” he continued. “At this point these museums are just trying to make me cry.”

The “Ride Along” star added a sad emoji along with four laughing ones.

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Kevin Hart, right, roasted his wax likeness. (Kevin Hart/Instagram; Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)

“This s— has to stop…. I demand a redo damn it!!!!!!!” he added.

The wax statue has gone viral as fans debate who it actually looks like.

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“That’s Devin Hart!” one person wrote in the comments, while another said, “You asked for Kevin Hart and got Kevin The Weeknd.”

“I thought that was me,” a fellow Black comedian joked.

Kevin Hart at the Kennedy Center in 2024.  (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

“When you order your wax figure off Temu,” a fourth person chimed in, while another thought, “They gave him the Jim Carrey facelift.”

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Another commenter quipped, “Kevin Hardly.”

“Chris Rock Tucker In the face,” someone else chimed in as another fan felt the statue “looks like what your youngest will look like older,” likely referring to Hart’s youngest son, Kenzo, 8.

Kevin Hart at the BET Awards last year. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

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 “I feel like @therock had something to do with this,” another fan joked of his prank-filled friendship with “Jumanji” costar Dwayne Johnson.

Johnson left his own tongue-in-cheek comment on Hart’s post that said: “It’s PERFECT Don’t change a thing.”

Johnson posted a video last weekend of Hart ribbingly mocking him while he was eating lunch on the set of the new “Jumanji” movie, writing, “I want to hate this so bad and punch @kevinhart4real right in his little Keebler elf face, but dammit my jaws hurt from belly laughing at his commentary.” 

He added, “btw, we have less than 3 minutes between takes, so that’s why I use a shovel size spoon to devour my food. Can a working man just eat in peace? Paybacks a b—-, Kev.”

Dwayne Johnson posted a comment on Hart’s Instagram that said: “Don’t change a thing.” (KCA2022/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)

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Hart’s statue was unveiled last week at the Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, according to People magazine.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the museum for comment.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, criticized Democrats Tuesday on Fox News, accusing them of holding Transportation Security Administration agents “hostage” after a confrontation over Department of Homeland Security funding. 

The Texas Republican called out Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, as the DHS shutdown continues into its second month.

“Congressman Casar was the leader of the defund the police crowd when he was on Austin City Council,” Cornyn said on “America Reports.”

“He has no respect for law enforcement, including the Transportation Security Agency that’s keeping us safe at our airports,” he added. 

His comments came after a tense exchange between the two on Monday at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Cornyn was delivering food from the Texas chain Whataburger to TSA staff. Agents missed their first full paycheck earlier in March.

Casar spoke to reporters nearby as Cornyn arrived, and the two had a heated exchange. Casar asked Cornyn to support a bill to fund just TSA, but Cornyn said it’s “not acceptable,” calling on Democrats to support the full DHS funding package.

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to members of the media at the Austin Marriott Downtown in Austin, Texas, on March 3.

Lawmakers have been at a standstill over funding for the Department of Homeland Security since mid-February. Democrats are demanding reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and have refused to vote for an entire spending package. Instead, they’ve proposed a series of carve-outs to fund pieces of DHS.

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But many Republicans, including Cornyn, say it’s not enough. He pointed to the work DHS does in fighting potential terrorism as a reason to end the shutdown.

“This extends beyond just the airports to potential terrorist attacks like the one that occurred in downtown Austin just a couple of weeks ago,” Cornyn said, referencing the March 1 bar attack that left three people dead and more than a dozen injured.

“Not paying these individuals, these TSA agents, is really disgraceful. There’s no excuse for it,” the senator added.  

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During the confrontation with Casar, Cornyn argued he had voted to reopen DHS multiple times and blamed congressional Democrats for blocking the funding bill for weeks. Casar countered by proposing that just TSA workers get paid.

Rep. Greg Casar participates in a public forum on the use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)

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“They want to make a political point, but they want to hold these people hostage,” Cornyn said. “It’s unacceptable.”

The shutdown comes as airport workers prepare for some of the busiest travel days of the season, with students heading out for spring break. It also comes weeks after two Americans were killed in Minneapolis during January incidents involving federal immigration authorities.

Fox News Digital reached out to Casar’s office for comment. 

An outbreak of meningitis is being treated as a national incident after a sixth-form pupil and a university student died, with 13 other people believed to be in hospital.

Thousands of students in Kent are being urged to get vaccines and take antibiotics as health officials deal with the “unprecedented” and “explosive” outbreak.

Some 15 cases have been reported to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) so far.

The number of cases is expected to rise because the incubation period from infection to when symptoms appear is two to 14 days.

Around 5,000 students in university halls in Kent will be offered the meningitis B (menB) vaccine in the coming days, while four schools across the county have confirmed cases and hundreds of people are being offered antibiotics.

Experts said many of those affected had attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury between 5-7 March.

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UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said the outbreak “looks like a super-spreader” event with “ongoing spread” through universities’ halls of residence.

“There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing,” she added.

“I can’t yet say where the initial infection came from, how it’s got into this cohort, and why it’s created such an explosive amount of infections.

“I can say that in my 35 years working in medicine, in healthcare and hospitals, this is the most cases I’ve seen in a single weekend with this type of infection.

“It’s the explosive nature that is unprecedented here – the number of cases in such a short space of time.

“NHS were initially managing it as a major incident in the region but they have now increased that overlay to having a national-level oversight as well.”

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‘The quickest-growing outbreak I’ve ever seen in my career’

While all reported cases so far have a link to Kent, according to the UKHSA, at least one person who fell ill and had links to Kent attended a London hospital.

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England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Thomas Waite said: “This is by far the quickest-growing outbreak I’ve ever seen in my career, and I think probably any of us have seen of meningitis for a very long time.

“Whilst it remains an outbreak that is having its consequences in Kent, it is obviously of national significance.”

Scientists are urgently working to establish whether the spread is caused by a possible mutant strain of menB. Of the 15 cases reported so far, four were confirmed to have that strain.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told MPs: “This is an unprecedented outbreak. It is also a rapidly developing situation.”

He said the menB vaccine has been available on the NHS since 2015 as part of routine childhood immunisations, “but clearly most students would not be vaccinated”.

Four centres are open in Canterbury offering antibiotics, with 11,000 doses available on site, Mr Streeting added.

“The onset of illness is often sudden, and early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics are vital,” he said.