SCAMS - How to protect yourself and your loved ones
Scammers are a blight of our lives. They prey on the vulnerable and exploit them for financial gain with no regard to the damage they cause to their victims. There are numerous categories of scam but they generally rely on scammers gaining knowledge of your private data that can be used for financial advantage.
Many of us consider ourselves to be savvy enough to detect a scam and act accordingly. What if we could hone our skills and then educate our friends and family to help them stay safe?
Please take a look at the eight minute video below which can help you do just that from an organisation called Friends Against Scams.
Although difficult to quantify as most victims do not report successful scams, Scam fraud costs the UK economy a reputed five to ten billion pounds a year. Imagine if we could halve that figure by raising awareness through training and proactively helping each other?
Different categories of Scams
Scams can generally be categorised according to how contact is made with the potential victim. They can be categorised as postal, telephone, doorstep and online.
A postal scam might be a letter informing you that you have won a prize draw or inherited money. There will always be a catch. Perhaps you have to pay an admin fee and the money will be yours. There is often time pressure to persuade you to pay the admin fee quickly rather than discussing it with someone else who might see it for what it is. If you do pay up, you never receive what you've been promised but you'll also get more letters and your details will likely be sold on to other scammers.
A telephone scam might be from someone who says they are from your bank perhaps telling you that they have detected fraud with your account. They may want you to move your money to safeguard it. It might be someone who says they can fix your computer or your broadband. In all cases, they will want to steal money or gain personal information about you so that they can profit from it. If you think that a call might be genuine, hang up and then call the organisation back but don't call them using a number they have given you.
A doorstep scam might be from someone who says they can see a problem with your roof that needs fixing urgently or they may say they work for the electricity or gas board or even the police. Treat all uninvited visitors with suspicion. A scammer may want to steal from you directly or to pay to get some problem rectified. Ask to see their identification or ask them to come back later when you are not alone. It can be intimidating if you are alone at home to get visits from strangers and most organisations won't send people to your home without an appointment.
An online scam will likely be initiated by email or an SMS text message but will likely contain a link to a scammer website that is made to look like it belongs to an organisation you use like a bank, an energy company or a shopping website. You may be requested to fill in an online form with personal details or bank account details. If you fill in a form and save it, the data will go to scammers and they can then use that data to steal money from you.
How to check for a scam
If you think you may have received a scam text or email but are unsure, you can do some research on the internet. You could write down a phrase from the text or email and then search for that phrase. I use a site called reddit that has a big community of people that store details about scams and give anonymous advice. You could search on that site and would quickly be able to determine whether the message you've received is a scam. Remember, do not respond to a scam message. Just delete it.
Educate yourself about prevalent Scams
It is worth knowing about some of the most prevalent scams so that you have a better chance of recognising them and not falling for them.
You could sign up to the Which Scam Alerts Service which will tell you about the latest scams.
Parcel Delivery Scam
According to Citizens Advice research, the current most common scam in the UK this year is parcel delivery fraud. Almost half of those targeted by scammers were involved in a malicious parcel delivery scam, with fraudsters seeking personal information or bank details.
Citizens Advice said several common scams involved a 'quite sophisticated' impersonation of official organisations. People targeted by parcel delivery scams received texts or emails from criminals claiming to be from a delivery company to reschedule or pay extra delivery fees. Others received false tracking information for items that never arrived after being purchased online.
If you’re expecting a delivery and you receive a ‘missed parcel’ message:
- Do not click the link and never give out personal bank details.
- Use the official websites of delivery companies to track your parcel.
- Delete the message.
Parking Ticket Scam
Fake text messages claiming to be from the DVSA are being used to defraud drivers, who are falsely told they owe money for parking fines. People have been receiving fraudulent text messages and emails falsely claiming they’ve been issued with a parking Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
Official Parking tickets will always arrive by post addressed to the registered owner of the car because the authorities use the registration number of the car to find the owner. They will never send texts as the first means of contact.
The messages appear authentic, using a copy of the council’s payment page and the GOV logo, but the ‘pay now’ button links to a scam website.
Remember not to click any suspicious links. Always verify PCN notices directly through the official website.
Paypal Scam
Watch out for emails claiming to be from online payment system PayPal saying you have bought a high value item such as an iPhone. The messages ask you to call a specific number if you did not make the purchase. But, once dialled, it will put you through to a scammer who will try to gather your personal information. Never give out any personal information or bank details to anyone you are not 100% sure about. If you think your account has been compromised, change your password and security questions.
Online Bank Account Scam
Online banking makes managing money easier for the general public. However criminals are taking advantage of this ease of banking and using it to defraud the public. Criminals can pretend to be from somewhere official, for example, your bank or the tax office. They contact you via email, phone or social media, and then warn you of fake suspicious or criminal activity on your bank account. They state that they’ve set up a safe account for you to transfer your funds into. However, this is actually their account.
Be very suspicious of a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a position of authority.
A genuine official from the Police, your bank, HMRC or any other trusted authority will NEVER call you to ask you to verify your personal banking details, PIN or password, or threaten you with arrest.
Never transfer money into another account unless you are 100% certain of the owner of the account. Your bank will never set up a “safe” account for you.
If you are a victim, contact your bank as soon as possible, as they may be able to help stop the transfer.
People's Postcode Lottery Scam
Watch out for fake letters which claim that recipients have won thousands on the People’s Postcode Lottery. This scam letter includes the People’s Postcode Lottery logo and branding. It claims that your postcode has been randomly selected from the electoral roll database and says your 'win' is part of a programme to award money from previously unclaimed prizes. The letter asks you to call a number to claim your prize. At this point the criminal will ask you to provide personal information, which will likely include your bank account details.
The advice is to always contact the People’s Postcode Lottery directly via a verified phone number (08081 098765), e-mail address or postal address if you genuinely believe that you may have won a prize.