Artists impression of a phishing email… 🙂
Applies to: Everyone
Well, it looks like that time of year is upon us once more, Tinsel, Trees, Mince Pies and Email Scams.
We tend to see an increase of these types of email over the holidays, everyone is busy and more likely to click without thinking…
Some common Scam examples
- Congratulations, you are due a tax refund
- Well done, you won a lottery
- [Bank / payment option] has detected fraud on your account, click to confirm details
- Your [Company Name] Account has been frozen, we need to verify who you are
- A [Company name] has a reward / free products / other strangely good offer
- And many many more…
Ways to avoid being scammed
- Never click a link in an email which is asking you to confirm details. Instead, open a new tab and go to that website the usual way. If you don’t have an account with the company in question just delete the email. (This also applies to phone numbers in emails)
- If you get a phone call always say you will ring them back. Then hang up. Phone someone else first. Then call the company in question from a phone number you find (on their website / on paperwork the company has sent you)
- Check out the related posts below for further reading and a free e-book to help you stay one step ahead of the scammers!
As ever if you are in doubt please drop us a comment on The Clubroom and we should be able to help you out
Stay Safe
Mike
November 28, 2016 at 2:54 pm
There are an awful lot of emails that warn of scams and other internet disasters. However, some of them are clearly very dated and hardly relevant, indeed they may no longer exist. So, is there a reliable up-to-date source where I can check them out?
November 28, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Hi Kevin
The short answer is, I don’t really know if there is such a place, I have this memory of someone in the office talking about such a place but I can’t find it now (I am back in the office tomorrow).
It can be very hard to work out if an email is a scam or not.
Generally anything asking for account verification (your [PayPal] account has been compromised, we need you to log in click here) for example is almost 100% a scam.
If you are unsure if something is a scam, then stop, have a think, and if it really worries you, open a new window, search for the company the email says it is from and call them to ask. Never ring a number in an email you think is a scam.
If someone rings you then take down the company name they say they are phoning from, hang up. find the phone number somewhere else, ring them back (on a different phone if you can or ring someone else first just to make sure the line is clear)
Have a read of our Stay Safe journal posts here
https://www.pcinnercircle.co.uk/index.php/tag/staysafe/ especially the “Take 5” Journal Post.
Let me know your thoughts
Mike 🙂
November 23, 2016 at 4:22 pm
A new voice and a variation on a previous scam??? Twice this week I’ve had a call from an educated female voice who is careful to give her name and check my name and postcode before telling me with regret that she’s phoning from Windows to tell me that my email address has been infected. If i will go to my computer she will show me what she means. I say I’ve lost money in the past by giving access to my computer; she sympathises and assures me she would never ask to do that. She is very persistent and persuasive, so I ask for an address – which she gives as 100 Victoria Street’ , London SW1 E5TL. She can’t give me an email address because it’s out of order, but does give an 0800 phone number. I finally ring off. I’ve just rung the phone number and spoken to a very nice chap at the offices of the Double Glazing Network in Southampton. To my surprise, I was his first caller from this source. We agreed I might not be his last.
PS. AM I LAUGHING TOO SOON???? I’m sending this from an old laptop because the newer one was not connecting to BT. A message has just flashed up on the newer one to say there are problems, which have been detected and the laptop will be reset.
LATER : I have now got the connection to BT and all seems normal. WAS MY CALLER BLUFFING OR COULD MY EMAIL HAVE BEEN NOBBLED TO PREPARE FOR HER DEMONSTRATION??
November 24, 2016 at 9:19 am
Hello
Glad you added that you are using your old laptop or I might have gone into my prepared talk about Windows Vista support ending in April 2017. But I will spare you that 🙂
It could be possible that they sent you an email and then phoned you, they are getting sneakier and sneakier. My advice is always just to hang up…
BUT I like to keep the on the phone for as long as possible so they are not talking to someone else.
Not sure if I have linked you to Troy Hunt before? But he did a recording with one of these people to see exactly what they would do if you let them onto your computer, not for the faint of heart: https://www.troyhunt.com/scamming-scammers-catching-virus-call/
Good job hanging up on them
Stay Safe
Mike 🙂