Hopefully our recent post will help you avoid some of the Christmas cyber scams out there. Unfortunately, there are plenty of these.
Here are some more scams to be aware of and how to avoid them:
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Banking Scams
Someone pretends to be calling from your bank. They may claim that someone else is trying to get into your account or, they have noticed suspicious activity. They will ask for personal details such as your account number, for example. They will then walk you through a security process to generate transaction codes to transfer money into another account.
Your bank will not make unsolicited calls to you. If someone is calling you claiming to be from your bank, you should be suspicious. If you’re at all in doubt, hang up. For peace of mind, you can call the official number you have for your bank and ask if they tried to contact you. Make this call from a different phone to the one the scammer called on – they can hold a line open and intercept your call.
Do not call back a number the caller gives you as number spoofing is common – and just because the number they are calling you from looks the same or similar the one on the bank’s website, still hang up and call back on the official number.
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Microsoft Technical Support
This scam has been prolific for many years but, still catches people out.
You receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming that they have detected an error or security risk on your computer they’d like to help you fix. The scammer then asks for permission to remote into your computer. They may ask you to download special software to enable this. Microsoft will never reach out to you in this way, so you should ignore these calls. The ‘special software’ they get you to download messes up your computer, then they hold you to ransom for credit card details to pay the “Microsoft support fee” before fixing it (they rarely do).
If someone calls you and you’re not expecting it, you should hang up. Instead, find the official number online and call back. A genuine person won’t mind. Don’t be duped into calling back a number that the caller gives you. In addition, never give away personal details to someone who you don’t know and who calls you online.
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Order Confirmation Scams
These are unexpected calls/texts/emails that often refer to a recent purchase and ask you to act urgently to confirm or cancel it. These scammers try to convince you to provide payment or bank account information, install software to your device, or purchase gift cards.
if you receive any correspondence regarding an order you weren’t expecting, you can verify orders by logging into the website of the seller and confirming your order details. Only legitimate purchases will appear in your order history – and Customer Service is often available 24/7 to assist.
If you need advice on avoiding the cyber criminals, please give our friendly team a call on 020 3327 0310.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a cybersafe New Year.