EastEnders has seen Lauren Branning make a risky decision in an ongoing storyline about the risks posed by scammers. Lauren has been struggling to make a decision after discovering a supposed experimental treatment that may help her son Jimmy, who was recently diagnosed with severe sight impairment. In tonight’s episode, Lauren received a call from Dr Adamson, the doctor behind the treatment he claimed could restore Jimmy’s eyesight.

During their call, Adamson told Lauren about their innovative research and surgery, which would include harvesting skin cells from the patient to create a “patch” to be implanted at the back of the eye.

“So you’re regrowing part of the eye?” Lauren asked in disbelief.

The initial price for a consultation and tests was £3,000, which Lauren’s husband Peter had no intention of paying because he believed this was a scam. But while Peter had his suspicions, Lauren wanted to make sure they did everything they could to help Jimmy.

At the hospital with Peter’s mum Cindy Beale, Lauren showed her Dr Adamson’s glowing reviews.

“I wouldn’t change a single thing about [Jimmy],” Lauren told Cindy. “But then I just think, what about when he’s older and he wonders why I didn’t even try?”

At home, however, Lauren seemed to have put the idea of signing up for the treatment behind her.

“There’s no magic fixes, I’ll let it go,” she told Peter, who encouraged her to “just forget about that dodgy stuff”.

Later on at The Vic though, an accident had Lauren concerned. During the pub quiz fundraiser, Jimmy (who had learnt to clink cutlery together during “family meal time”) reached for a knife and cut himself. Ian and Peter blamed themselves, and Lauren insisted with her husband they should consider the treatment.

Going for a walk to clear her head, Lauren ran into Ian who had brought some medicine for little Jimmy. In a desperate attempt to raise funds, she asked him for the money — but he refused.

“This really does smell like a con,” Ian warned her.

As it turns out, both Peter and Ian were right.

Lauren went to extreme lengths to get the money, pocketing the charity donations for St Lucy’s. She transferred the money to Adamson and was shocked to realise his number had been deactivated shortly afterwards.

This EastEnders storyline is part of the BBC’s Scam Safe week, with a special week of programming highlighting what viewers can do to protect themselves and their loved ones from being scammed.