Latest Fraud News

Action Fraud has received almost 200 reports this month relating to a phishing email which appears to have come from Tesco.

Scammers are taking advantage of the cost of living crisis and are offering shoppers a £500 Tesco gift card. The email claims that you have been selected to join their loyalty programme and they urge you to follow a link to claim your prize.

The link will take you to a malicious website which asks for your personal information and details to log in to your PayPal account. This is a way for scammers to steal your information and gain access to your PayPal account and bank details.

Always remember:

• Never click on a link or attachment that has been sent to you via an unsolicited email, text/Whatsapp message, or on social media. If you are interested to find out more then go to the retailer’s website through your search engine. If the offer is genuine, there will be details on the website.
  
  
• Never enter your personal information, bank details, or PayPal account details into a website that isn’t secure. You should also never give details to anyone over the phone or via email and text message.
  
  
• If you receive this email then report it as spam and delete it immediately. If you think that you have given your details to a scammer then report it to Action Fraud, to your bank, and change any passwords that you have given them.

Scammers will take every opportunity they can to con people of their money, and sadly the Ukraine crisis is no different.

Scammers are particularly targeting those who are looking to offer financial support to Ukrainian refugees during this time. They are targeting people via phone call, email, text messages, and online adverts and asking for donations.

These adverts, and links in emails and texts, will take you to fake charity websites which make it look like they are donating money to refugees. These websites have actually been set up by scammers and have been designed to steal your personal information and bank details.

They will often spoof well known fundraising websites like GoFundMe to trick people into thinking they are donating to a genuine cause.

These pages could claim that they’re raising money for refugees or for other reasons such as:

• Buying passports and travel tickets for Ukrainians to get out of the country.
• Raising money for Ukrainians to bury loved ones.

What to do:

• If you want to donate to the Ukraine crisis then conduct your own research on where to donate, do not go to websites through email or text links or through adverts on social media.
  
  
• We would advise sticking to well-known trusted organisations like the British Red Cross, who are already providing support in Ukraine. This way you can be certain that you’re donating directly to the  cause.
  
  
• The safest way to make a charitable donation online is via a credit card as this comes with more protection then using a debit card and it’s not directly linked to your bank account. This means that scammers won’t be able to access your account and steal more money.
  
  
• If you discover one of these scams or fall victim to one, then you must report it to Action Fraud. If you have given your bank details to a scammer or sent money then you need to report it to your bank as soon as possible.

Action Fraud have received more than 2,000 reports of an Amazon scam within one week.

The scam comes in the form of a phishing email where scammers are pretending to be Amazon.

The emails claim that the recipient’s Amazon account has been ‘locked’ and an identity verification process needs to be carried out in order to unlock it.

The link in the email takes the victims to a genuine-looking phishing website which has been designed to look like a page on the real Amazon website. There, victims are asked for their Amazon log-in details, personal information, and bank details in order to verify their identity.

In reality, this is a website designed by scammers in order to steal people’s personal information and bank details in order to steal money or commit further crimes such as identity theft.

Important to remember:

• Neither Amazon, or any other trusted company or organisation, will ever ask you to provide log-in details, personal information, or bank details via email or over the phone.
  
• Always check the sender’s email address to make sure it has come from a trusted source. Genuine Amazon emails will always come from an address that ends with @amazon.co.uk, so if it’s anything else then it is a scam.
  
• If you are unsure about an email you have received, then log-in to your Amazon account from your web browser (do not click on the link in the email) to check that everything is okay or to speak to their customers services department.
  
• When you receive a phishing email, make sure you mark it as a scam before deleting it to alert your email provider, and report it to Action Fraud UK.

A new social media advert scam featuring Argos offering Dyson hair dryers for 99% off has been reported over the last couple of days.

Dyson hair dryers usually retail for approximately £300, but this advert from a fake Argos Facebook page claims that they have broker their contract with Dyson and are now selling their hair dryers for just £1.78. The same thing happened a couple of months ago with scammers posing as Currys.

Once you give your bank details to the scammers, they initially take the £1.78 so everything looks legitimate, but then they steal a larger sum of money a few days later.

Facebook has been made aware of this particular scam, but it’s important to remain vigilant as scammers will always come back as long as they’re making money.

Important to remember:

• A deal as crazy as this sounds too good to be true, which means it usually is. Take a minute and think whether a deal is actually plausible.
  
• All large companies and organisations will be verified on social media by showing the blue tick next to their name. If you see an advert from a large company and it’s not coming from a verified page, then stay well clear. You can also report the page as phishing.
  
• If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud then contact your bank immediately, and report it to Action Fraud as soon as possible.

Scammers are continuously coming up with new phishing scams, and recently they have been trying to target HSBC customers.

Phishing emails are when scammers pose as either a bank, or another well known company or organisation, in an attempt to steal your personal information and bank details. They will always state that some kind of action needs to be taken as this is how they get you to click on the link which will then download viruses or malware to your device or take you to a malicious website.

The subject line of this particular phishing email read ‘Please contact us urgently to reclaim money in your frozen account’. This was posted on Twitter by someone who received the email and HSBC replied saying that this is a scam as it was not sent from one of their email addresses.

Important to remember:

• Your bank will never contact you out of the blue asking you for personal information, log-in details and passwords, or for you card details. They will also never ask you to transfer money or withdraw cash.
  
• Never click on links sent to you via an unsolicited email, text message, or on social media.
• If you are unsure, contact your bank (or whichever organisation they are posing as) using a phone number that you know is genuine. For your bank, this will be the phone number on the back of your bank card.

Over the past year, £1.6m was lost to online charity fraud according to Action Fraud UK. This figure is up 16% on the previous year.

Online charity fraud includes scammers asking for donations for non-existent charities and fraudulent collections using real charities’ names.

Charity related fraud tends to be higher over the festive season as scammers pray on peoples’ giving nature at this time of year. It also tends to be the time where genuine charities also increase their appeal for donations.

Before you donate to a charity online, make sure you take these steps:

• Check the charity’s name and registration number on the Charity Commission website. If the charity is on this website, then you can be sure that it’s genuine.
  
• If you receive a donation appeal via email or social media and you want to give to that charity, go to their website through your search engine instead. This way you can ensure that you’re on their genuine website and not one designed by a scammer.
  
• Use the Fundraising Regulator’s online directory to check whether the charity has registered with them.
  
• If you are unsure at all, ask for more information on the charity and the cause that you’re donating to. Genuine charities will be more than happy to discuss the details with you, and won’t rush you to make donations.

In the year leading to September 2021 there were 4,600 cases of payment diversion fraud reported to Action Fraud UK. Individual losses averaged at £30,000 per case, making this a hugely concerning type of fraud.

This type of fraud is particularly rife in March and November each year as small and medium sized businesses are the main target during the financial year-ends.

Unlike other scams, for example phishing emails and cold calls, criminals carrying out payment diversion fraud specifically target individuals and tailor their approach accordingly. This is one of the reasons why the losses are so much greater.

Payment diversion fraud is when a criminal intercepts a payment in order for it to be sent to them instead. For example, they may contact a business and pose as one of their suppliers saying that their bank details have changed and need to be amended when the next invoice is paid.

Or they may target individuals who are about to pay their house deposit to a solicitor. They pose as the solicitor, creating an almost identical email address, but put their own bank details into the email. Many people have lost house deposits this way which can be hugely damaging both financially and emotionally.

Payment diversion fraud warning signs

• You are asked to change the payment details of an existing supplier/business/solicitor. Make sure you contact them by other means to check that this is genuine.
• They urge you to make the payment as soon as possible, and may sometimes threat legal action if you don’t.
• Check the email for spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and whether the language fits with previous contact you’ve had with this person/business.

A series of ATM scams have been reported in London recently which has led to a warning by the Metropolitan Police. According to Statista, more than £28 million was lost to cash machine scams in the UK last year, so this is still a huge problem.

ATM scams involve criminals attaching devices to cash machines which either trap people’s cards inside, or stop the cash from leaving the machine. Once people believe that the cash machine is broken and leave, the scammers return to collect the cards and/or cash.

Sometimes scammers place a ‘skimmer’ inside which reads the information on the card but lets the card holder use the machine as normal so they don’t realise that anything is wrong.

Important to remember:

Every time you use a cash machine, feel around the card and cash slots to make sure that there isn’t anything obviously attached to either one. Some devices can be difficult to detect, but make sure that you check for anything suspicious.

Also keep an eye out for anyone hovering close by. The perpetrators will stay close so they can retrieve the cash or card as soon as you leave. So if there is anyone around you acting suspiciously and you are worried, then go to a different machine.

If you’re unsure, use the cash machines inside your bank branch as these tend to be much safer. You should also keep a close eye on your bank statements so that you’ll notice anything suspicious straight away.

A new text message scam featuring Lloyds bank has recently started to appear in people’s inboxes.

The text message reads "LLOYDS BANK: A payment was attempted from a NEW DEVICE on 13/07 at 01:53:18.

If this was NOT you, please visit https://lloyds-react-cancel-device.com."

The link will take you to a malicious website which has been designed to steal any personal information or bank details that you enter. This will enable the scammers to then steal your identity and access your bank accounts.

This scam is particularly worrying for those that genuinely bank with Lloyds as they may worry that someone has accessed their account. However, this is exactly what the scammers are trying to make you believe, and then do themselves.

Important to remember:

Lloyds, or any other bank, will never contact you out of the blue and ask for any personal information or bank details including log-in details, passwords, and OTPs.

If you think that you have been a victim of fraud then you should call your bank immediately using the number provided on the back of your card.