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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Could you spot a scammer?

Cher_Alumni

As our daily life is increasingly spent online, the need to stay safe on the internet remains important. But where do we begin, and what do we do, to minimise the risk of cyber crime and fraud? Let’s talk about it.

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Don’t share personal details

A basic in staying safe online is not to over-share. Before giving out any personal information, be it your full name, address, contact number or bank details, consider:

Do I need to share this information, and will doing so put me and my identity at any risk?

While, if you receive an unexpected request for information from an organisation or company, think:

Can I contact them via a known email address or telephone number to verify their request is genuine?

It’s always best to be cautious, and if you feel uncomfortable or suspicious of any pressure to share details, stop communication and seek the advice of Action Fraud.

Another top tip is to review your privacy settings on websites you use, to ensure you’re only sharing information you feel happy with. Why not check your community account settings now?

Keep your devices secure

We all access the internet differently, so from laptop to mobile phone, it’s essential to keep technology protected against cybercrime. This means:

Making sure computers have anti-virus software and a firewall installed.
Ensuring browsers have a high level of security and monitoring.
Keeping on top of app and software updates as they are released.
Enabling 2-factor authentication where possible.

Although passwords can be tricky to remember, don’t go for ABC123! Pick a strong password that cyber criminals will find difficult to guess. Remember: a strong password should ideally contain at least 15 characters and be a mixture of letters, numbers and special characters. You can use password management software to save different passwords and avoid forgetting!

Sound too good to be true?

Then it probably is. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau warn these are common signs you might be being targeted by a scammer:

Something seems too good to be true – for example, a holiday that’s much cheaper than you’d expect

someone you don’t know contacts you unexpectedly

you suspect you’re not dealing with a real company – for example, if there’s no postal address

you’ve been asked to transfer money quickly

you've been asked to pay in an unusual way – for example, by iTunes vouchers or through a transfer service like MoneyGram or Western Union

you’ve been asked to give away personal information like passwords or PINs

you haven't had written confirmation of what's been agreed

You have every right to question something that feels wrong. Remember, trusted organisations won’t pressure you into making a financial decision. You can find out more about scams and report any you come across via the National Cyber Security Centre website.

Smells phishy?

A common tactic used by cyber criminals is phishing. This is where fraudsters pretend to be someone trustworthy, to encourage you to go along with scams, click on malicious links or part with sensitive information.

These are some tell-tale signs of a phisher to look out for:

Being addressed as ‘valued customer’, ‘friend’ or ‘colleague’. Not using your real name indicates they don’t really know you!
Poor quality replica graphics of brand and company logos
A time frame mentioned to increase the urgency to respond i.e., send these details immediately!

If you think you’ve accidentally clicked on a phishing email, don’t panic. Run your anti-virus software, change any passwords shared and if you’ve sent money – report the crime via Action Fraud. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s easy to mistake others’ intentions as genuine over a screen.

Over to you:

What steps do you take to keep yourself safe online?
What’s your biggest online safety concern?
Are you confident you could spot a scammer?

Get talking in the comments below!

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Comments

66Mustang

I have never been scammed but I have noticed they are getting cleverer and cleverer as time goes by. The way I deal with the issue is that I assume everything is a scam unless I know for sure otherwise. I might have lost out on things this way but I'd rather lose the chance at something I don't yet have than lose what I do already have!

My concern is not for myself but for older relatives who have come close to falling for these scams before, and a couple of times have actually fallen for them but luckily just lots hundreds of pounds and not their life savings.

I have posted this before but one interesting fact I learnt is about the grammar used in scam messages. Most people laugh at the bad grammar and wonder which idiot wrote the message, but it is actually done on purpose and quite clever. They intentionally use bad grammar to weed out the more "able" readers - if you are bright enough to notice the grammar you are likely bright enough not to fall for the scam - and they aren't interested in you. People who don't notice the bad grammar are either daft, or cruelly, may be people with learning difficulties, or maybe older people with something like dementia, those are the people the scammers want to target.

Sandy_123

I can spot them from a mile away luckily, if a company like amazon message me or the bank or bill providers, I go to their sites. Latest ones for me is, someone signed into your social media, so i go on and check activity on that platform, finding nothing. Also if you click the the email at the top it un hides the scam email address.
On phones they say they are a company then ask for details, never give it.
I agree it will be elderly and vulnerable people mainly that will fall for it. They are getting clever and it's everywhere. Be careful folks

66Mustang

A tip I have is to google a phone number if you get a call from a random number.

I have had about 10 in the last 2 months, didn't answer, and just googled the number and others reported them as being scam numbers.

OverlyAnxious

I did fall for a scam website last year. Looking back at it a week later, it was very obviously a scam, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to see it at the time. I paid through PayPal and fortunately they refunded me around £50, despite admitting to it being my fault!

More recently, I've been getting a load of spam emails every day. It happened after using a comparison website. I don't know which one, as I used several on the same day. Trouble is, I was hoping they'd eventually just stop, but it's been several weeks now and they're still flooding in. Don't want to change the email address so I don't think there's anything else I can do. Obviously won't be using smaller comparison sites in future, will just stick to the main ones.

I have also come close to buying fake items on eBay a few times. Sometimes I'll take the risk if it's cheap enough and difficult to tell one way or the other.

Cher_Alumni

Thanks for your comments so far. It's an interesting topic, isn't it? My mum receives a lot of phone calls attempting to sell her things, and it's a concern as she loves to chat and I have to stress to her that their intentions aren't genuine. I can understand how some, less familiar with scamming techniques, fall for it.

Oh @OverlyAnxious that must be really annoying. Make sure to not open any of the emails as this will mark you as active, and only lead to more!

WelshBlue

I got caught once. but not by a phonecall. To this day I don't know how my bank account got hacked.
Card transactions took hundreds and hundreds of pounds out of my account in Argos Milton Keynes (170 miles away)

Totally wiped out the account and put me in the red.

Thankfully within half an hour of speaking to HSBC the money was back in my account.

Words can't describe the feeling when you know it's happened. Sick to the stomach doesn't cover it

Will never forget the advisor saying ... you'll be glad to know we blocked the Uber payment so they couldn't get home

Sandy_123

I was once approached in a supermarket carpark about 15 years ago, selling a video camera which seemed a bargain at the time. 100, put the bag in the car, decided to look and it was potatoes. Car nowhere to be seen, most expensive potatoes I ever bought

Steve_in_The_City

I am wise to scammers; they get nowhere with me. If you cast your mind back several years you may remember the TalkTalk data breach. I was one of the people whose security was breached and I was plagued with phone calls from scammers. At first it annoyed me. I used to think how thick are these people? It was always the same spiel - something wrong with my modem (I can't remember what) and they wanted access to my laptop. After a while though I treated it as a game and decided to keep them on the phone for as long as I could. It amused me endlessly! My record for keeping someone on the phone is 47 minutes before the guy on the other end realised I was extracting the urine!

These days I have few problems. I occasionally get a hoax text but I know straight away it is rubbish. Same with emails. Yet I remain alert at all times especially if someone should phone.

If you have elderly or vulnerable people in your household then it is a problem, and you have to do what you can to protect them. I have been responsible for 2 elderly people. One was daft enough to give her debit card to her carer so that the carer could go shopping. So you have to keep a watchful eye at all times.

Wilshyboy

I worked as a labourer on building sites for about 30 years, we often used to get people come round trying to sell cheap TVs they would have one with them which worked perfect, anyway some one bought one and when he got home. So went to try it nothing happened, it turned out that when he took the back off it had a bag of sand to make it weigh as it should. A week later we heard they had been nicked on another site where someone recognised them blocked their van in while the police came, So if something is to good to be true it normally is. As for being bombarded with email from comparison sites, at the bottom there should be an option to unsubscribe, most firms will do it the same day, others will take up to a week, but they should honour your request. Hope that helps.

Alex_Alumni

There's a useful tool from Which? The scam sharer, you can use it to report any scams you spot, and help spread the word to warn others

Which? also has plenty of information and advice on how to sport certain types of scams, and how to report them, so take a look and stay safe!

C_J

I have not fallen for a scam but you have to always be cautious be it on line, receiving mobile calls or even now-a-days a knock on the door and the worst is scammers are getting better at what they do I've received a few phone calls and they sound convincing however if I detect it's a scam right away I will hang up and report the number the same if it's a text message.

Even the websites they creat look convincing but I never click a link if I'm unsure. It's horrible that we have to live like this in this day and age and my heart goes out to the people that have been caught out by these scammers as life is hard enough as it is without having to watch out for scams.

OverlyAnxious

Wilshyboy said:
As for being bombarded with email from comparison sites, at the bottom there should be an option to unsubscribe, most firms will do it the same day, others will take up to a week, but they should honour your request. Hope that helps.

Thanks, though the emails aren't from the comparison sites. They're all sorts of spam rubbish (loans, bingo, accident claims, diesel claims, etc). 15+ per day, every single day for months now. They started after using several comparison sites on one day, so I guess one of those must have sold info elsewhere.

What's more worrying is that they're definitely using some sort of tracker, as some of the emails are tailored, depending on what I've Googled that day. One even appears to come from a relative of mine, using their name in the heading.

I've tried using Malwarebytes to scan and clean the laptop but that hasn't made any difference. Not sure what type of 'tracker' this actually is though, so may not get picked up on a Malware scan.

Wilshyboy

It could be a root kit, if it is i would recommend you down load Emsisoft Emergency Kit, It's free and it will go through your system and flush out any Malware that may be on your PC, Iv'e used this my self so i know it works, Malwarebytes is an ok system but i find they tend to err to much on the side of caution, so Emsisoft is a good back up to have and does not clash with any other security suites.

OverlyAnxious

Wilshyboy said:

It could be a root kit, if it is i would recommend you down load Emsisoft Emergency Kit, It's free and it will go through your system and flush out any Malware that may be on your PC, Iv'e used this my self so i know it works, Malwarebytes is an ok system but i find they tend to err to much on the side of caution, so Emsisoft is a good back up to have and does not clash with any other security suites.

Thanks for the suggestion. Just downloaded it. 75,000 files scanned - not a single issue found! Very strange.

Wilshyboy

I am at a loss as to what you can do, depending on which email provider you have, It may have a spam blocker, let me know your email provider, if its Outlook or Gmail i will look up for you what can be done as i have both.

OverlyAnxious

Wilshyboy said:

I am at a loss as to what you can do, depending on which email provider you have, It may have a spam blocker, let me know your email provider, if its Outlook or Gmail i will look up for you what can be done as i have both.

It's Outlook. The spam is going into the spam folder so the provider seems to know what it is. Trouble is, there's so much of it that I'm missing the occasional 'real' e-mail that accidentally ends up in the spam folder.

Wilshyboy

If that happens right click on the email in question, on the dropdown menu and near the bottom it says always move to focused, left click that and any future emails from that person will automatically go to the right place, hope this helps.