Scams

We all like to think we wouldn’t fall for a scam, but given that in the first half of this year, fraudsters stole more than £500m from us, there’s always the risk that sophisticated scammers will work out a way to part you from your money. One of the most subtle approaches is what’s known as authorised push payment fraud — where a criminal will trick you into sending money to an account — so we need to know how these scams work and how to protect ourselves.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/red-flags-how-to-spot-scam-123509186.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

The charity says that around one in five people across the UK have been caught out by a finance scam in the past year - here is how to protect your money.

Citizens Advice estimates that nine million Brits have fallen victim to a financial scam over the past year.

The charity says that around one in five people across the UK have been caught out by a finance scam – such as a fake pension - in the 12 months to August.

Scams aren’t just relegated to emails and cell phones these days, as one journalist recently discovered ✉

• Fraud still isn’t limited to the digital world in the modern age.
• There are still a number of postal scams, designed to add a “legitimacy” from those intended to undertake fraud.
• Reporter Benjamin Jackson was one of those who recently had a scam end up in his letterbox - here’s what he did.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/postal-scams-2024-types-of-scams-what-to-do-if-you-get-a-scam-letter-4831765

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group has joined calls for technology firms like Meta to do more to clamp down on a surge in scams originating from social media.

Charlie Nunn, one of Britain’s most influential bankers, said social media giants needed to collaborate more with lenders to protect consumers.

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme whether Lloyds believed tech companies were “pulling their weight” on fraud, Nunn replied: “No, we don’t.”

Action Fraud is urging people to provide an extra layer of protection on their social media accounts and email after more than 33,600 accounts were hacked in the last year.

New data released by the national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre shows that victims lost a combined total of £1.4 million as a result of their online accounts being compromised.

People are being warned about fraudsters trying to steal their savings via scam websites and adverts.

Action Fraud says that every year victims lose thousands of pounds to criminals imitating genuine investment firms by clicking adverts which lead them to fraudulent websites. Often these websites imitate real pages and are known as "cloned companies".

HMRC has issued a warning about fraudulent emails appearing in people's inboxes this week. As we approach the festive season, taxpayers are being advised to disregard deceptive emails related to Royal Mail deliveries.

One UK citizen took to Twitter to share details of an email they received. The individual asked: "@HMRCcustomers I've received an email saying Royal Mail tried to deliver a large letter from HMRC but couldn't. Please click to rearrange. This is a scam? " HMRC responded, confirming that the email was indeed a scam.

Posting voice recordings online could potentially lead to scam attempts being made against family members and friends, a bank is warning.

Voice cloning scams, where fraudsters can imitate a person’s voice by using videos uploaded on social media, could catch many people out, Starling Bank found.

Nearly half (46%) of people do not know this type of scam even exists, according to a survey for the bank.

Burnley Council has issued a warning after a scam text message has been circulating.

A council spokesperson said a scam text message leads to a replica payment page, asking people to pay a non-existent parking fine.

More than half were in relation to customer-approved online bank transfers, also known as authorised push payment scams.

Scam-related complaints have reached their highest level since at least early 2018, according to a service that resolves disputes between consumers and financial firms.

In the first quarter of this financial year (April 1 to June 30), consumers lodged 8,734 gripes about fraud and scams, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said.