Here are some of the latest scams to be aware of.
PayPal
I got an email from an Amelia Brown the other day enclosing a PayPal Receipt showing a balance due of $512.00 for a Google Play Card stating I had ten days to open a dispute.
This was not a very clever scammer because she or he did not use the blind copy method of distribution but included literally hundreds of email addresses in the copy box so I could see all the many email addresses the scammer had sent the message to.
So I clearly ignored it but wondered how many of the recipients may have responded to the message and maybe handed over confidential information.
Which? has recently reported on this scam. They say – “Scammers are exploiting PayPal’s ‘request money’ feature to scare customers into calling dodgy phone numbers and giving away their personal data”. This scam involves fraudsters sending fake emails requesting payments for high-value items, or posing as HMRC to demand ‘overdue’ tax payments. If you call the number in the email, you’ll be ringing a scammer phishing for your personal information. Take care.
Hotmail
Another one that Which? has flagged up is emails to Hotmail accounts from Microsoft. Whilst the email is not very professional, if you click on the link you will be taken to a Microsoft branded page which will extract confidential information from you. Don’t go near it.
You can forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. You can also report them to your email provider by selecting ‘Report Spam’ on Gmail, ‘Report phishing’ on Hotmail or by forwarding the email to abuse@yahoo.com on a Yahoo account.
Microsoft Technical Support Scam
An unsolicited telephone call is received telling you that Microsoft has detected an error or security risk on your computer that they would like to help you fix. The scammer asks for permission to gain remote access to your computer. They are very nice and appear helpful but if you let them download their software you are at their mercy. They may then identify so called bugs in your system and offer to fix them for a price. They can also access your files for future fraudulent activity.
Never ever respond to unsolicited calls how ever reasonable they may sound.
Cryptocurrency Scam
The Times recently reported that an elderly lady had lost £112,000 to a cryptocurrency scam. She had decided to experiment in cryptocurrency after seeing an advertisement on Instagram and invested £200. A few weeks later she received a call telling her that her investment had grown to £800 and encouraged her to invest more. And some months later she had handed over more than a hundred thousand pounds before realising she had been scammed.
Cryptocurrency may look like an exiting investment to dabble in but it is unregulated and riddled with scammers. If the return looks too good to be true it probably is.
And lastly a physical and local one.
Distraction at the Supermarket
A lady recently reported a theft from her car. She was visiting the North Cheam Sainsburys (because the car part at Epsom was partially closed). As she put her shopping in her boot and her handbag on the front seat, she was approached by a man who said he had seen someone hit her car.
She looked at her car but could not see any damage so she got in and drove home. When she got there and looked in her handbag, her purse was missing and a large cash withdrawal had been made from the Sainsburys’ cash machine. Be aware of your surroundings and protect your valuables when out and about.