Fraud? Scams? send in the details...

[Celia]

http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/

Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges
People receiving e-mail scams are being urged to forward them to Action Fraud

Millions of Britons who receive scam letters and e-mails are now being urged to forward them on just the once - to the National Fraud Authority.
The agency has launched a new operation to track down the fraudsters behind the multi-million pound industry in scam mail, but needs public input.
Details of how to forward e-mails are on the Action Fraud website.
Chief executive Dr Bernard Herdan said doing so would give "unprecedented" information about criminal activity.
"Both in terms of collecting lots of fraudulent e-mails and letters, and getting those e-mails sent to our website that we can send on to the police, that has not been possible before.
It's really important that we do that in order to collect that data, deter the criminals and educate the public," he said. The e-mails received by Action Fraud will be forwarded to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau run by the City of London Police for collation and analysis.
Last year, more than 3,000 people reported being scammed but police believe many more are too embarrassed to admit they fell for them.
Mass marketing scams makes up a quarter of all reported fraud but accounts for 90% of losses, with the average victim who reports a fraud losing £27,000.


Received an email scam?

• Do not click on any links
• Do not reply to the e-mail or contact the senders
• If you have clicked on a link in the e-mail, do not supply any information on the website that may open
• Do not open any attachments
• Visit the Action Fraud website

Source: Action Fraud / BBC

[CharlotteCraig]

When you read these letters you can see that only someone very gullible and greedy would fall for these scams. They tell you that you hvae won a lottery you have never entered and which does not exist or they tell you they wish to give you millions of dollars if you help them with something easy and trivial. Only a greedy person would respond to this. Normal people would work hard to raise their own incomes rather than relying on this generosity or luck.

[Energylz]

I think it's a bit harsh to broadly label people as greedy if they fall for one of these scams. There are people who are naive in various aspects, or those who are elderly and/or trusting of people. Some people enter competitions and all sorts in the hope of winning something, so if they get a letter telling them they've won, they may believe it's in relation to something they've entered.

Even the most cynical and scrutinizing person can sometimes be gullible to something or other.

Sometime it may also be that a person is in dire need of a little extra cash as they may be out of work, trying to support a family etc. and the idea that they can get something for very little work is extremely attractive to them. That doesn't make them greedy, they are just in a situation that makes them more susceptible to untrustworthy people.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

[maychang]

Also a lot of scams aren't about money like that, some of them are

* hotmail will close your account if you don't respond
* paypal details need to be updated
* your bank queries something

one of the main reasons that I won't do online banking is the amount of bank emails I receive.

I also posted one on here the other day saying that my business name had been protected in China and if I wanted to use it I would need to respond to them, the biz names wasn't my biz name but it would make you think if it was.

[natalie8]

A tip that I heard long ago there's a way to tell if the link really is from a bank, credit card or other secure site. The beginning of the name will be https rather than just http. The S stands for secure.

For exampl, you might get an e-mail from your bank and that e-mail will be from the link http://wwwdotmybank.com with another link to their onlyne banking. The online banking site which asks for your passwords, etc. will show as https://www.mybankonlinebankingdotcom.

[Sue1]

Originally Posted by maychang

Also a lot of scams aren't about money like that, some of them are

* hotmail will close your account if you don't respond
* paypal details need to be updated
* your bank queries something

one of the main reasons that I won't do online banking is the amount of bank emails I receive.

I also posted one on here the other day saying that my business name had been protected in China and if I wanted to use it I would need to respond to them, the biz names wasn't my biz name but it would make you think if it was.

I do my banking online, and my bank states that they will never email me for any reason, so that I know if anything that is sent to me even if it is my bank it is a scam. All emails like that go straight to my junk anyways and that gets emptied daily, I don't bother opening them. I do however seem to get more junk these days ever since I have put my name on free listings for my business.

[Energylz]

Originally Posted by natalie8

A tip that I heard long ago there's a way to tell if the link really is from a bank, credit card or other secure site. The beginning of the name will be https rather than just http. The S stands for secure.

For exampl, you might get an e-mail from your bank and that e-mail will be from the link http://wwwdotmybank.com with another link to their onlyne banking. The online banking site which asks for your passwords, etc. will show as https://www.mybankonlinebankingdotcom.

Unfortunately, that's not the only thing you should look out for because:
a) the links they put in the emails are just text and often mask the underlying link they will take you to and
b) Anybody setting up a web site on a web server can choose to make it a "secure" and use the https protocol. Secure just means that the messages (traffic) between your computer and the server are encrypted so that nobody can listen in along the way.

I do internet banking, and the one thing that the banks do if they are a bank tha emails you is to ensure there is something in the email that identifies you and only they would know, so often this would be addressing you by your full name, whereas scam emails just use a generic title like "Dear Customer" etc. Also consider that if a bank detects fraudulent activity on your account, they won't email you to verify any details... but transactions will be prevented on your account and they will try and contact you by phone to speak to you in person or letter (headed paper identifying themselves) and they will be able to identify you by name when they do.

The spam bank emails are fairly easy to spot once you know what to look for (of course the best ones are from the banks you're not even banking with LOL!) but with all the media creating fear in people about identity theft etc. someone getting an email telling them their account is at risk can react on that fear without thinking and be caught out.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

[Energylz]

Originally Posted by Sue1

I do my banking online, and my bank states that they will never email me for any reason, so that I know if anything that is sent to me even if it is my bank it is a scam. All emails like that go straight to my junk anyways and that gets emptied daily, I don't bother opening them. I do however seem to get more junk these days ever since I have put my name on free listings for my business.

Unfortunately, "free" listings means you think you are getting something for free, but really it's the company that is getting your details for free so that they can make money out of you by selling your details on.