Scams

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.

When you think about the concept of being scammed online, you naturally think the person who might do it to you is an immoral individual, but early this year I was told about "forced scamming," which changed how I thought about the idea entirely.

Forced scamming is one of the most complex and fastest-growing forms of modern slavery in the world.

A retired woman who lost £10,500 after being scammed on Instagram whilst buying garden furniture fears she'll never get her savings back.

66-year-old Sian Brooker from Cwmbran was scrolling through the social media channel when she spotted what she thought was a good offer online.

A director at TSB Bank has warned a group of top MPs that Facebook Marketplace and cryptocurrency investment are major breeding grounds for scams amid calls for Big Tech to take more responsibility for a wave of fraud on social media.

The Home Affairs Committee heard from major banking and communications firms heard on Wednesday as part of its inquiry into fraud, which makes up around 40 per cent of crime in England and Wales.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a fresh call for social media firms to do more to prevent mass fraud on their platforms, City A.M. can reveal.

The City watchdog said in a report on Thursday that it issued 2,286 warnings last year alerting consumers about firms and individuals operating without its authorisation, up 21 per cent from 1,882 in 2022.

A “heartless” fraudster who stole £80,000 from Nationwide bank customers via a telephone banking scam has been jailed for three years and ten months.

Edward Trustworth, 30, of Tottenham, would use stolen card details to make purchases such as luxury watches.