The This is Money website is very sensationalist and full of annoying adverts, but if you can work past all that, they have some really useful warnings, news, information and tips around beating scams and fraud. In fact they have an entire section called Beat the Scammers full of news and advice articles.
Head to the Beat the Scammers website here and start reading.
It’s full of scare stories and warnings, but that’s actually good. The more you can nurture a healthy level of paranoia about scams, the more likely you are to recognise them and then not fall foul of them! If someone or something is genuine then you’ll be able to engage with them properly. If someone is a scammer then you should be able to stop the signs and avoid going further with them.
Fraud and scams are rapidly on the increase at the moment with unpleasant criminals capitalising on covid and lockdown. As we head into winter and more lockdowns the scammers will increase their efforts too.
Have a read of this article on Beat the Scammers to get you started.
And then visit Friends Against Scams to start learning how to be positive in avoiding scams. And visit Take Five Against Fraud for more practical tips too
Remember to look back through all our scam bulletins to date – there’s lots of useful tips, advice, websites and resources to browse through.
Have a chat with your family, friends and neighbours about scams. Make sure you’re all aware of how to spot them.
Scams can be through the post, via an email, over the phone or by someone calling at your front door. Keep an eye on all of them.
This week I’ve personally had one neighbour get a call from Amazon asking for bank details so they can process a refund (he doesn’t even have a computer); another person being offered a gutter clearance for £1000 (it shouldn’t really cost more that £30-£100); and, more pleasantly, a badly worded email from an insurance company (think insurance scam) that, after a phone call to the company, in fact turned into a real refund (but the person was wise to make the phone call first). Scams are common. Let’s not help the scammers.
More next week. Join us on the Network Discussion site to continue the conversations.
Karl Elliott, karl@vanel.org.uk
Development Manager, VANEL
and development support for NEL Watch