Tips to avoid scammers

Fraud is a growing problem in the UK and according to the consumer watchdog ‘Which’, five million of us lost out to a scam in the last year alone. This shows how convincing the fraudsters are, but as this article shows, there are a number of scams that are tried time and time again, so if you know what to look out for, you can make sure that you don’t fall for it. Here we have included the most common scams:You’ve won a lottery prizeThis could come by either post or email, and you will be told that you’ve won a huge prize on a lottery or cash draw. To claim the prize, you’ll have to either ring on a premium rate (usually about £1 a minute) number to see what you have won, or send a cheque for an admin fee. Unfortunately, of the many people that receive these notifications, a large number of them fall for the scam. Don’t do it – there is no big prize and you will end up out of pocket.The sad email asking for help to release funds from a locked bank account in an obscure countryWeb-based email accounts like Yahoo or Hotmail are particularly prey to these kind of emails. Basically, the email will be from a man in a third world country (usually Africa) explaining that a distant relative of his died and before doing so didn’t sort out his financial affairs so all his money has been frozen. There are many variations on this story, but the general gist is always similar. They say that your name has been referred to them by a close confidante and would you give them your bank details, telephone and fax number so they can contact you and arrange to transfer the money into your account. Then you would get to keep a percentage of the money for your help. Once they have your details and you have agreed to help, they will let you know that although the transfer is poised to go through, there are some necessary charges to pay to cover the admin and legal costs. This often amounts to thousands of pounds.If you pay it, you will have lost your money. And it won’t stop there. They will contact you again to say that there have been some unexpected additional costs, and you must pay more. They will add that if you don’t, the transfer won’t go through and you will consequently lose the money you have already paid. It’s all lies – you will never get any return on your money, and you may even receive threats from the people that now have your contact details.Variations on these themes are sent to people all over the UK every day – don’t be tempted to even reply, it’s a scam from start to finish carried out by criminals.Targeting small-time investors - Boiler Room fraudAs with most scams, this plays on people’s desire to get rich quick without having to do any of the legwork. Fraudsters examine the share registers of UK quoted companies to get access to the personal details of small shareholders. They particularly target middle-aged people that only have a limited level of experience in share dealing. They then make contact via phone or email to convince the person to invest in an amazing company whose shares are about to go sky high. The company whose shares they are promoting don’t always exist. From currency investment to stock options – the fraudsters have got all the areas covered. There’s an easy way to find out if the offer is genuine – ask for their Financial Services Authority (FSA) registration number. All companies that promote the sale of stocks and shares and other investments are regulated by the FSA, and as such are registered to them. If they are unable to provide the details you have requested, or refuse to supply a number, you can hang up straight away as you have already exposed them as scam artists. If they do come up with a number then all you need to do is call the FSA’s helpline on 0845 606 1234. They will be able to check the register to see if the company is listed. It’s vital that you carry out this check – 9 out of 10 calls are scams so the odds really are against the call being a genuine one. Internet purchasing with your credit/debit card detailsThe new transition over to PIN number transactions has reduced fraud on credit and debit cards, however there is one marketplace that doesn’t rely on knowing the PIN, and that’s the Internet. With a copy of your card numbers then a scam artists can buy what they want, have them delivered to any address they want, and sell the goods for a profit.The websites www.getsafeonline.org and www.cardwatch.org.uk provide some excellent advice about what you can do to safeguard your bank details on the Internet.Email from your bank wanting you to reconfirm your bank detailsThis has been coined as ‘Phishing’. People with web-based email accounts see this quite regularly, and can be assured that the email is definitely not from the bank. You also see similar emails supposedly from Ebay asking to confirm details. They ask you to follow a link and then on the next web page you input your bank details etc. They’ll then use your details to get your money. If your Bank needed to contact you to check some details, they would NEVER do this by email. Ignore these emails and delete them immediately. Identity Theft – keep your eye on the dustbin menIt’s amazing but true – people’s identities are being stolen from their dustbin. Fact is, all a fraudster needs is a utility bill and a bank/credit card statement and they can set up bank and credit card accounts in your name. This happens every 4 minutes in the UK, so it really is a big problem.You can’t be too careful – what we recommend, paranoid as it may sound, is shredding any documents that have your name and address on them like utility bills etc, so no one can make use of the letter.If your identity is stolen, you may never know, or you may find the police knocking at your door one day – it’s potluck but the best tactic is to avoid it happening in the first place. All these scams are extremely common – no doubt you will have experienced at least a couple of them already. Do be on your guard.

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