How to spot a scammer.

Albus_Scope

Heya folks!

As there's a big online shopping day coming up and Christmas just around the corner, I thought I'd share some top tips to avoid those pesky scammers and keep you all a bit safer online.

• Email links.
  Scammers are getting very good at making emails look very official these days. But there's a few ways of making sure the link you have is safe to click.
  Hover your mouse over the link for a few seconds. Does it link to the actual website in question?
  If you're unsure, it's always safest to manually go to the website and check the offers that way.
  
• Is the email actually from the provider?
  Always check who the email is from. Check other emails from them in your inbox and always be on the look out for scammers changing letters that look similar. Is 'Amazon' spelled with an 'o' or a '0'? These can be big give aways!
  
  
• Check the website address.
  Always check that the start of the website starts with https;// and not just http:// it's a simple thing, but that 's' shows that the website in question is secure and encrypted. If you're shopping on Amazon, double check you're on the official site, or app. Again, look out for odd letters in the name. They can be very sneaky.
  
• Verify your account messages.
  This is a big one at the moment. The scammers will send you an official looking email, asking you to click a link to 'verify your account details' This is known as 'Phishing' Whatever you do, do not click the link or give out any of your details. Websites will never email asking for this information.
  Other messages may say you need to update your payment method or billing information. Again, don't click or reply. If there's an issue, check the actual website and contact customer services if you're unsure.
  
• Texts.
  Another way scammers will try to get you is through texts. Often pretending to be royal mail saying your item needs paying for, or more recently pretending they're the government and offering a "Winter payment" in Euros. Again, check where the message is coming from. If it looks like a normal mobile number, it'll be a scammer. So block their number.
  
• 2-step authentication.
  This is your best friend and I recommend having this active on any site that gives you the option. I know it can be a bit fiddly setting up at first, but it really can save your bank account.
  
• How to pay?
  Use a credit card if possible, as it may be easier to get your money back if something goes wrong. If you don’t have a credit card, online services like PayPal can protect your bank details.
  
• Be skeptical.
  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. When in doubt, check.

I know there's a lot of jargon in there and it may seem a bit confusing. So if you have any questions, or need any help, feel free to comment here and we can do our best to help you. 😊

Do you have any top tips to add? Let us know!

whistles

There is also a job centre/whats app scam doing the rounds. I got a phone call this morning. I didn't answer an unknown mobile number. Putting that into who called me website and it comes up as a negative scam. You can hopefully block these numbers off your phone. Mine allows me to block numbers. If I get a text scam I always report it.

Albus_Scope

Excellent work there @whistles my phone often says "suspected spam caller" now which helps a lot. And I'll always report any dodgy texts, so it'll not only block the number, but also send that number to the fraud team.

durhamjaide2001

Thank you for keeping me informed

Amaya_Ringo

This is a great list, Albus.

The other thing I'd add is that if you do feel you may have fallen for one of these scams, or realise right as you've done it what you've done, CHANGE YOUR ACCOUNT PASSWORDS. Go to the original website, not an email link, log in and change your password as soon as you possibly can. I've had customers at work who have fallen for scam emails but been able to save their accounts and money etc by immediately changing their login details.

Albus_Scope

Excellent points there @Amaya_Ringo thanks. 😊

I'll add to that first point. If you do feel you've been scammed, it's often worth changing your passwords on a different computer or phone, just in case you have clicked on something that has installed a keylogger on your PC. Speed is certainly of the essence in those situations.