Being scammed or conned is sadly something that we're all exposed to. Below is a guide to help spot and prevent this from happening to you.
These days, making purchases online, looking out for deliveries to our homes and using our tablets and phones for paying bills and banking is common practice. However, this has increased the opportunities for scammers and now more than ever, we all need to be aware and look out for the signs. Below is a breakdown of some of the most common approaches fraudsters use in order to try and compromise our personal security and finances.
Telephone scams
This could be a phone call to your landline or mobile. If the number is withheld, from a mobile you don’t recognise or looks to be from a foreign country with a long or unrecognised dialling code at the beginning, the chances are it is not genuine. No matter how polite the caller may be, it is very rare that a legitimate organisation will call you and ask for personal information like passwords, bank details or a PIN.
One tactic is to not answer the call and to see if they leave a voicemail. Some providers, like O2 for example, may have overseas call centres contacting you so you may hear a non-native speaker but usually, this is to sell you an upgrade or tell you about a special offer. Unless you are certain, you can simply hang up. After the call, you can add the number to your ‘blocked’ list via the settings option if you don’t want to hear from them again. On some mobile phones, you can go into ‘Settings’ and select the option to ignore withheld numbers in future, but this is personal choice.
Suspicious emails or texts
Scammers will often use company logos (like FedEx, the NHS or even your bank) and imbed these into an email to make it look legitimate. The return email address it comes from may even have the company name within it. Even opening the email could put you at risk so read the preview very carefully before you open it. Once opened, there may be an attachment, a link or button to click on but only do this if you are certain that it is from a trusted source. If in doubt, call the organisation and ask if such a message has been sent.
Don’t use a telephone number or email address on the message, instead find the correct contact details from the provider’s website or from past correspondence that you know is genuine. Another common scheme is from an individual posing as an eminent member of society (like a doctor or politician) who needs to transfer a large sum of money into a British bank and they would like to send it to your account which of course, is completely fictitious.
How to spot a suspicious email
A lot of the time, your email account will place suspicious emails straight into you your 'spam' or 'junk' folder instead of your inbox. However, some of these still slip through so here are some things to look out for:
Bad spelling or grammar
Does the email address it came from look strange
Do the pictures or logos look blurred, like they have been copied
Does the offer sound too good to be true – have you really won £10,000?
In some cases, you may receive an email from someone you know and who is in your contact list but the language and request from them may seem unusual. This is an instance where a scammer has intercepted a friend’s email account and has sent a message out to all their contacts, including you. They will not know about this unless they are told about it or they check their ‘Sent’ items. If you suspect this has happened, DO NOT reply to the message unless you can verify it is from them and genuine. If you have your email account hacked in this way, change your password immediately.
If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS): report@phishing.gov.uk
Postal scams
We’ve heard of residents receiving letters purporting to be from the Council, utility companies and other organisations that have even used the correct name and address asking for payments to be made or to type in a link to view a payment. Sometimes these letters will state that you are entitled to a huge discount on a service, can have something installed for free or have won some money or a prize.
To make a claim, it may ask you to call a number or visit a link. It may also threaten legal or court action if you don’t respond within a certain timeframe to make a payment. Scammers will often scare vulnerable people into making payments as they fear the repercussions. Before acting, do some research to check that it is genuine or ask a family member or trusted friend to check it with you.
Keep a copy of any letters in case they need to be seen by anyone should a future investigation transpire.
Doorstep scammers
On some occasions, a visitor may call at your door, this is called ‘cold calling’ as it is unexpected. They could be well dressed, professional sounding and appear to have some identification. However, this is very rare these days and such an instance should be treated with extreme caution. Unless you are confident that they are representing a company you know and trust, never give out personal details and don’t allow them into your home. They may even know your name but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are trustworthy. Common reasons cold callers use to speak with you:
You can enter into a special prize draw
Selling you something with a huge discount or a savings scheme
Special offers on life insurance, wills, funerals or health schemes
Your property is in need of urgent work – the roof could collapse at any time!
Tips to safeguard you against scammers or ‘phishing’ attempts:
Change your PIN and passwords regularly. Also, avoid using the same password for multiple log-ins if possible
If you want to make a call to check something but wish to remain anonymous, dial 141 followed by the number and your call will appear as a ‘withheld number’ to the recipient
Make sure you have a list of telephone numbers issued by your bank, utility accounts and mobile phone provider etc. as any suspicious activity on these should go directly to the provider
When invited to do so or if there is an option, choose to activate the ‘two step verification’ process for logging-in. This means that you’ll be sent a code via text message or an email verification to log-in to accounts like your banking, utilities or emails. This makes it much harder for scammers to intercept your on-line activity.
RFID Skimming is aform of electronic pickpocketing where thieves use a portable scanner to unlawfully obtain data from someone's contactless credit cards, debit cards, passports, or key fobs that use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). You can buy RFID blocking wallets, purses, sleeves and cardholders with built-in metallic or carbon fiber layers that act as a Faraday cage to block radio signals.
Remember: if in doubt, hang up the phone, report it to the provider or organisation or, if it is more serious, call the police.
You will find lots more information and resources on this website where you can report incidents of fraud and get more help, visit: https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/
