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This is an email scam where you appear to get a message from a
legitimate source, such as your bank, HMRC, PayPal, Apple or
Amazon.
The message will encourage you to click a link and log into your
account, normally by telling you your account has been locked or
there’s a large transfer of money.
In reality, the link in the email goes to a fake website which
collects your information.
Another version of this scam involves an email attachment – perhaps
a coupon or form you need to fill in – which is in fact a computer
virus.
There are two main ways to spot a phishing scam
This is phone call where the scammers pretend to be from your bank,
building society or even a government agency.
During the phone call, the fraudsters will attempt to get you to
reveal your personal details.
It’s very difficult to spot. The big tip-off is that the caller will be desperately trying to get you to reveal your information, which no legitimate caller would ask you to do.
This is generally a phone-based scam. Although you might be targeted
in other ways, such as email or people coming to your house.
Although investment scams vary, the principle remains the same.
You’re encouraged to hand over money to invest in a company or
product, which doesn’t exist.
It can be quite difficult. Many of the companies the scammers are
calling from or trying to get you to invest in can look legitimate –
with websites, social media profiles and testimonials.
See if the investor is regulated by checking the register on the FCA
website
To see if what they’re getting you to invest in exists, check them
on the
Companies House website
It’s unlikely a company will contact you out of the blue about an
investment opportunity. So if you get an unexpected phone call, it’s
best to ignore it.
A big warning sign should be if you’re told an investment offers a
high rate of return with little risk.
Since the pension freedoms were introduced in 2015, retirees are
able to access large sums of money from pension pots.
An unfortunate side-effect has been that this group is now being
targeted by scammers because they can potentially access large
amounts of cash.
Pension scams will usually follow a similar path to investment
scams, with contact normally being made by telephone.
Warning signs are similar to those for investment scams.
Unsolicited phone calls, or any unrequested contact, should be
treated as suspicious. Anything involving high returns with low risk
should ring alarm bells.
If you want to be sure, check the FCA register and the Companies
House website
This is when you buy tickets for a concert or sporting event, for
example – but the person, or website, you’re buying from either
doesn’t send the tickets, or sends you fakes.
This is most common on ticket reselling or exchange sites, which
makes get a refund very difficult.
To combat touts, many events issue tickets that can only be used by
the person who bought them, so tickets on reselling sites won’t work
Spotting this scam can be difficult as you might not realise you’ve
been scammed until the day of the event.
One way you might be able to spot it is by looking at the website.
If it’s one you’ve never heard of, doesn’t have proper contact
details, or only lists a mobile phone number or PO box – avoid it.
These are text message-based scam.
Scammers will contact you claiming to be from your bank, saying you
need to update your personal details or that there’s an issue.
The text might contain a link, like a phishing scam, or a phone
number to call. The phone number is fake and when you call the
fraudsters will attempt to get you to reveal your details.
It’s difficult to spot, so if you get a message like this – be
suspicious.
One giveaway might be the phone number in the text is not the same
as the one on your credit or debit card.
This is similar to phishing, but instead of sending you an email
directly, the scammers target the website you’re visiting.
You type in the correct website address, but you then get directed
to a fake version, where you inadvertently put in your login details
and secure information.
Scammers have also designed these fake websites to look just like
the real thing.
Look at the website address. It won’t show up as you’re expecting,
but as a selection of numbers. Or perhaps something similar to the
real name, but with letters switched around or a different spelling.
This is another kind of email scam, and probably the most
well-known. You get an email from ex-ministers or the royal family,
often from a country in Africa.
They’ll usually ask to use your bank account to deposit a large sum
of money so they can get out of the country and offer to pay you a
fee.
You’ll be asked for your bank details. But of course there’s no
money and the scammers will use the details you send to clear out
your bank account.
Similar schemes exist with wills and claiming an inheritance from a
long-lost relative.
As with many of the scams we’ve mentioned so far – if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is.
Again, it’s worth checking the email – as the name the message is
from and the email won’t match. Bad spelling and grammar can also be
a give-away.
You’ll be contacted, usually on the phone by someone claiming to be
from your bank. They’ll say your account has been compromised in
some way and encourage you to transfer all your money from your bank
to a ‘safe account’.
It can be very difficult as the scammers play on your fears about
people illegally accessing your money.
But the easiest thing to remember is banks will never ask you to
transfer money into a ‘safe account.
If your account has been hacked, your bank will be able to stop
money coming out of it very quickly and there would be no point in
transferring your money to a different bank account.
This is where scammers pretending to be from Apple or Microsoft
contact you by phone or email. They say they need your payment
details to fix, update or validate your software
It’s very unlikely computer companies would make a phone call about
these kind of issues if you haven’t asked for one.
So it’s best to treat the calls with the same suspicion as you would
treat any other unexpected call or email.
a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of
exchange. Cryptocurrencies are known for their market volatility so
the value of investor’s assets go up and down quickly. As more
people have invested their money in cryptocurrencies, criminals have
capitalised on this as an opportunity to commit fraud.
Criminals advertise schemes promising, in some cases, high returns
through cryptocurrency investing or mining. Frequently advertised on
social media, criminals try to lure you in with adverts offering
easy money quickly in order to obtain your money or personal
information.
This involves people being duped into sending money to criminals who
go to great lengths to gain their trust and convince them that they
are in a genuine relationship.
They use language to
manipulate, persuade and exploit so that requests for money do not
raise alarm bells.
Requests might be highly emotive, such as criminals claiming they
need money for emergency medical care, or to pay for transport costs
to visit the victim if they are overseas. Scammers will often build
a relationship with their victims over time.
Testimonial Carousel
i received a call from someone claiming to be from my bank’s fraud team enquiring if several payments on my account were actually made by me. I didn’t recognise them and was advised it was nothing to worry about, that my account had been compromised, and I urgently needed to move money into a ‘safe’ account in order to protect it. I did as told and transferred the balance from my account, as well as the money in my savings into a ‘safe account’ which actually belonged to the criminal. Thanks to ICIEU, i was able to recover it all.
I received a phone call from the police advising they were
investigating some cases of fraud at my bank. I was told to go to
my bank branch and withdraw my funds to assist the police in their
investigation. The caller even said an officer would meet me to
collect the cash.
I was assured that there was nothing to worry about and i would
receive the funds back once the analysis was complete. The caller
gave me an excuse to use if he was questioned at his bank branch.
Once i made the withdrawal i took the cash back to my house and
soon after an officer arrived to collect it. i handed over his
cash but never heard from the caller or officer again. I had so
much confidence in the police so i really thought i would even
double back the money i gave them. but i was deeply defrauded, I
searched for recovery agancies and even got duped again, thank God
i didn't give up and came across ICIEU. Their legitimacy and
competence is really amazing.
I finished work one day and was rushing to catch a train. I
received a message from my son saying he had a new phone and is
giving me his new number.
Minutes later i got another message from the same number informing
me that he was struggling to access his banking app on the new
phone and was worried because he had to pay an urgent bill. i
received a further message asking if i could pay the bill. Worried
for his my and knowing he would pay me back when he could, i
transferred the money to the account. It was only after i had
transferred the money and couldn’t get through to my son on the
new number so i called my son on his default number then realised
it was a scam. I was devasted beause it wasn't a small amount of
money. i saw one of ICIEU's newsletters online and decided to try
them and i incredibly happy i did. Thank you ICIEU
I applied for a mortgage which was subsequently declined due to a
poor credit history. I had consistently paid off all my credit
cards and built up my credit score so was unsure why that was the
case.
I started receiving letters from a debt collector for outstanding
payments on a mobile phone contract.
When i checked my credit report, i discovered numerous entries
that was familiar. i contacted the organisations relating to the
entries to check what they were for and raised disputes.
What didn’t occur to me was that criminals had obtained my
personal information from social media profiles, which included
details about my home address, workplace and other personal
information. This was used to target me with a scam email (also
known as phishing) as a result of which provided the criminal with
information about my financial details.
Numerous accounts for loans and mobile phone contracts had then
been opened in my name, none of which i knew about. i sponser ads
online asking for help, i am still surprised as to how ICIEU
contacted and resolved my issues for me.