Scams

People are urged to be vigilant as devious fraudsters posing as police officers have been calling residents to try to con them out of money. Five people living within the Cirencester dialling code area, 01285, were targeted by scammers last Monday (March 25).

On each occasion the fraudster claimed to be a police officer from Cirencester police station. The scammers said they were calling to notify the victim that their credit card had been cloned and used at a local supermarket.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/urgent-police-warning-over-devious-call-999-supermarket-scam/ar-BB1kJnHK

New research has revealed that North Wales Police have received 3,275 individual fraud reports over the past 13 months.

The analysis, carried out by QR Code Generator QRFY, looked at data from Action Fraud and the Office for National Statistics to uncover how many reports each police force had in England and Wales, over the past 13 months – and the most common type of fraud.

“It’s an industry where consumers’ voices aren’t strong, even though it’s consumers who are badly hurt by rogue sites,” Emily Taylor, founder of DNS Research Federation (DNSRF) said.

Which?, the consumer watchdog, is warning consumers to be wary of fraudulent banking websites after finding a myriad of scam sites.

Its research found more then 2,000 websites imitating UK banks were reported just in 2023 alone.

A rogue builder has been jailed for fraud after fleecing an elderly customer with sub-par work.

Alexander Brewis, 42, charged his victim £13,800 to do roofing work and cladding in a bathroom – a service which should have cost around £3,250.

Brewis, who was trading as Storm Roofing and Property Maintenance, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday (March 14).

WhatsApp scams are on the rise and victims could lose thousands to fraud. We look at the most common scams and how to protect yourself.

With around two billion active WhatsApp users, the app has become one of the biggest target for scammers to enable them to steal money.

We have already seen a rise in Amazon, romance, holiday and even crypto scams, but Whatsapp scams continue to evolve as scammers find different ways to get you to part with your cash.

Officials are warning people to remain vigilant over ‘mystery box’ scam emails.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, has received more than 7,902 reports about scam emails impersonating well-known retail brands.

The emails claim to be giving away a ‘mystery box’ containing free prizes.

The links in the emails lead to malicious websites designed to steal personal and financial information.

Last year, £13.5 million was lost to gift card scams alone in the UK. One person who knows all too well the devastating impact of these scams is Debbie Horwood, whose mum was tricked out of over £115,000. But what are gift card scams and how can you spot them? Debbie joins us today, alongside Alice Beer to reveal just how easy it is to be conned out of your cash, as well as revealing the warning signs.

https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/the-gift-card-scam-you-need-to-be-aware-of-after-woman-loses-over-gbp115-000

A heartless rogue trader who conned vulnerable victims out of more than £35,000 for building work he didn't complete has been jailed.

William Longhurst preyed upon pensioners, people who lived alone and those with medical issues to convince them to hand over money for work that was unnecessary and left incomplete. He left victims in a state of fear and anxiety, sometimes reducing them to tears and giving them sleepless nights, as he made false claims that their roofs would cave in.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2024/02/23/jailed-dishonest-roofer-conned-vulnerable-victims-out-of-35000-to-feed-drink-addiction/

What is Check a Website?

Check a website is an easy-to-use online tool which helps you to determine whether a website is likely to be legitimate or a scam … before you visit it.

Provided in the UK by Get Safe Online in conjunction with Cifas, ScamAdviser and our other partners, it cleverly uses an algorithm to provide a trust score based on more than 40 data sources as well as thousands of reports of malicious websites from law enforcement agencies, regulators and consumer brands every week.

The government has launched a new campaign to help people spot and report fraud as it warns the crime costs society £6.8 billion.

The Home Office has unveiled Stop! Think Fraud, which highlights that scams account for 40% of crime in England and Wales and an estimated 3.2 million offences each year.