Scams are everywhere it seems, on the phone, on the internet, in the post, on leaflets through the door and everybody is warning all their friends about scams they have heard of.
Stop - and check if the scam you have been told about is still active before you pass it on. You may be perpetuating a myth and raising undue alarm..
Check on one or more of these sites to get the latest information on a scam before passing it on.
Financial Fraud Action UK, the banking industry's voice on financial fraud matters, is urging cardholders to be wary of a scam that begins with a phone call out of the blue, supposedly from someone at your bank. The caller - who is actually a fraudster - typically claims to be from the security or fraud department of the bank and says that their system has spotted a fraudulent transaction on your account. By offering assistance in how to get the money refunded, the caller hopes to gain the victim's trust.
The fraudster asks the victim to write down their PIN and place it in an envelop with their card, saying that they will send a courier to collect it.
A genuine courier company - an unwitting pawn in the scam - is hired to collect the envelope, which is then handed over to the fraudster who uses the card and PIN to withdraw cash from cash machines.
Distinguishing between a genuine and a fraudulent call can be difficult because fraudsters imitate genuine processes - such as when a bank or card company calls their customer to verify transactions because they have detected unusual spending.
However you can distingish between the two because:
There is a collection for clothes being undertaken by bogus collectors claiming to be from the Whinnicott Foundation. Although the foundation is genuine, the collection is not.
NEVER give to a charity collector UNLESS you know they are genuine. A genuine collector will have no problem is you want to ring the charity to ensure they are genuine. BUT always use a contact number you know is genuine, don’t assume the number they give, or any number shown on their badge is genuine.
PLEASE DON’T STOP GIVING TO CHARITIES but make sure you only give to genuine charities and collectors.
You will be contacted by email/phone/letter. You will be informed that you have won a considerable amount of money on a lottery. You will if you reply be asked to send money to claim your win for tax / clearing / processing your win. DO NOT reply, put the letter or emails in the dustbin - do not take telephone calls from these companies. You will lose money if you get involved. You have not been personally chosen you are just one person of thousands contacted by the fraudsters.
Mass marketed scams are a priority area for the OFT. Our research indicates that around 3 million UK consumers lose a total of £3.5 billion to scams every year. In 2002, the OFT set up a dedicated Scambuster team to lead the Office's scam prevention and awareness programme.
The scams awareness campaign is a long-term consumer awareness campaign aimed at providing consumers with information and advice on how to identify scams and protect themselves and others.
Publicity is concentrated around the annual scams awareness month in February (the UK's contribution to the ICPEN International Fraud Prevention Month). We also run a number of tactical initiatives through the year targeting specific scams, such as racing tipsters and bogus holiday clubs.
