It’s been Cyber Security Awareness Month throughout October and I really wanted to spend this month highlighting something that really does affect us all, whether directly or indirectly the sad reality is that we either  have been affected by an online scam or had a security scare online or know someone who has.

When Covid hit and we all stayed home, the scammers quickly adapted to this new way of life taking advantage of the fact most of our lives were now being forced online, think of all of those online orders we were always expecting, whether that be food or bigger clothes (from said food!)

I wanted this blog to be different and I wanted to share with you details of some different types of scams because of the sheer amount of money we have collectively lost as a result of them.  Knowledge is power after all!

One of the scariest new scams  involves the scammers pretending to be  from your bank, not heard about that one yet?  Well let me break it down for you.

You get a text message from a courier confirming that you missed your delivery which includes a link to rebook your delivery. Nothing unusual so far as you’re expecting a delivery, BUT when you rebook you are asked for a nominal fee (this is the clever part,) as you’re expecting an order you think nothing of this and  unwittingly provide them with your card details when you pay the ‘redelivery fee’.

Now the scammers are armed with your bank card details. With this they can start to complete online transactions (which you scarily provided to them!) such as sending money overseas with companies such as World Remit or Western Union, they can even order takeaways online too!

Now for the twist, you’ve paid expecting your delivery on the selected date and no parcel turns up. You get suspicious, you check your online banking and see the pending transactions for possibly hundreds of pounds on your bank account using companies such as World Remit or Western Union.

The next thing you would do, as anyone would, is to call your bank!

While on the call with your bank you get cut off but not to worry, they call you straight back (or is it your bank calling you back?  Remember when you used your phone to make the online payment and clicked the link in the text to pay the delivery fee, this more than likely gave the scammers your phone details too!) 

You continue your conversation, thinking its your bank, after going over the normal security questions again, you’re then asked for the codes on these overseas transactions, as you think this is your bank calling you back to give these details, unknown to you,  you are now authorising these transactions for the scammers as they need these codes to allow the transaction(s) to process.

You hang up the phone thinking you have spoken to your bank and put a stop to these transactions. Phew….lucky escape. 

You check your account the next day expecting the pending transactions to have been voided but instead, they have all cleared!!!!

You again, call your bank….they have no record of your conversation with them! 

They say the phone cut off, you insist they called you back, which they deny! Your head is now reeling with how sophisticated this con was and that you are out a few thousand pounds…

Que hours on the phone to the bank who confirm you actually authorised the transactions to the scammers and therefore unintentionally made the transactions…a clever scam or what!

I share this to highlight just how scary our online world can be and that it is important that we always remember and ensure we remind our loved ones too that, clicking on links of any sort are never a good idea (whether on your phone or email) never pay a nominal fee for redelivery of an item without first checking your tracking number for the parcel you are expecting and if possible always go in person to your bank or ensure you have logged into your online banking and have the correct phone number for your bank. 

Remember, your bank or the police will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or passcode, or ask you to transfer money to a safe account.

There were a reported 40,283 cases of bank impersonation fraud  in 2020-21 alone  with a total reported value of  around £181 million lost! .

This is one of the more scarier ones, but there are others that you should be aware of as well.

CopyCat Scams:

This can be where a scammer calls pretending to be from a well known company such as an internet provider or more recently HMRC, they confirm you owe money and if you do not pay there will be a penalty. You are provided with details of where to pay the money and then viola, they are then never heard of again. Sadly, in these types of scams, less than half of the victims’ money is returned to them.   

If you receive a call like this hang up straight away and don’t share any personal details and try and call the company using the number that is shown on company’s website or in any letters that you have received from them.

Identity theft:

This 2020-21  around 51,389 reports of identity theft were made, the ‘con’ is simple, they take your identity by either stealing your wallet or even going through your bins! Other ways to then build your identity are used such as using your social media profile and online activity. Loans and credit cards are taken out in your name, some scammers even apply for benefits under your identity too. 

It’s good to limit what kind of information you share online on your social media pages and check your credit report, particularly if you have been a victim of identity theft as any new applications for credit made in your name would show up on here.

Invoice scams:

This is another clever one, you are expecting an invoice from someone. They send it to you via their email and you pay them. A few days/weeks later the person whose invoice you believe you paid contacts you asking where their payment is! 

What has most likely happened here is that the sender’s  email was  hacked and the scammer sent you an invoice with their bank details and not the person who actually did the work for you. This does mean now that you should try and carry out additional checks  to make sure the invoice is sent from the actual sender before it is paid along with confirming the bank details directly with them too.

I hope this blog has been helpful and informative and allows you to start to make smart decisions online and ensure you help your loved ones too as well.

Do not forget, here at ScoresMatter we do offer a monthly dark web scan that can tell you if any of your details are available on the dark web and therefore putting you at risk of identity theft or fraud , we did a blog on this a few months ago too! You can sign up for a trial here: ScoresMatter – Tap into the digital you.