If you receive an unexpected letter, phone call, email or visit, be cautious: it could be a scam. Scam attempts typically start with someone making contact ‘out of the blue’. The fraudsters can be extremely convincing; their aim is to catch you ’off guard’, win your trust, and to take your money.
Fraudsters will often:
- Send letters falsely claiming you have won a lottery or prize draw.
- Offer bogus investment opportunities.
- Pose as individuals seeking romance.
- Send official looking emails containing false web links.
- Claim to be calling from an internet provider or Microsoft.
- Claim to be trusted officials such as police officers or bank security staff.
- Claim to be from trusted agencies such as HMRC.
The hallmarks of a scam include:
- Pressure to act quickly or keep their contact a secret.
- Attempts to obtain confidential information such as PIN numbers.
- Requests to transfer money or hand over bank cards or cash.
- Offers that sound too good to be true.
Remember:
- Never disclose security details, such as your PIN or full password.
- Don’t assume the person contacting you is genuine.
- Take your time to stop and think and don’t be rushed.
- Always listen to your instincts.
- Stay in control.
How to report:
To report suspicious activity you can call the following numbers:
Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040
Non emergency police: 101
To speak to your bank, you can call 159, which will connect you with your bank.
Always ensure your phone line is secure after receiving a scam call. Ideally you should use a different phone to make the call as scammers are known to remain on the line, and could trick you. This principally applies to landlines (rather than mobile phones). You could call a friend first or perhaps the SSW office if you know we are open; calling someone you know personally means you know that the line has returned to its normal use rather than being connected to someone who may pretend to be something else, such as a bank or government department.
Suspicious text messages you can forward to: 7726
Suspicious emails you can forward to: report@phishing.gov.uk
Remember to delete text messages and emails after reporting and do not interact with them by clicking links, for example.
If you need help or advice, please do get in touch with our Tech Team who will be happy to help.
