Scammers impersonating the police
One of the newest and most insidious forms of scamming that has recently been on the increase is scammers impersonating the police.
Scammers are inventing fake scam numbers to try and steal personal and financial information.
For more information about these types of scam please see here.
Beware of fake shopping websites
Fake websites are being used by scammers in order to try and con shoppers into giving up personal information.
The websites use fake versions of websites belonging to Boots, Amazon and Tesco. It has been reported that “Shoppers have been warned to be aware of tens of thousands of scam websites which are impersonating big retailers such as Tesco and Amazon online.”.
The scammers use a tactic known as typosquatting in order to closely mimic the website addresses of the real websites.
Which? has noted six ways by which you can be helped in spotting the fake websites. For examples and more information about how to spot the fake websites please see here.
Watch out for Scareware
Scareware is as the name suggests, the aim of these messages is to panic you. Having done that, the scammers aim to trick you into downloading rogue software or clicking on a link that will take you to a malicious website.
If this should happen to you, there are a number of steps that Which? have identified, which you can take to help you deal with the situation. You can find them here.
If you have a scam story, Which? would like to hear from you. You can contact them through their website.
Best and worst banks for refunding scam victims
When somebody has been scammed they are often advised to contact their bank immediately. But do they get their money refunded by the ban?
Which? has compiled a list of the best and worst banks for refunding customers. According to Which? the best banks for refunding scam victims were Nationwide and TSB, who refunded 85% and 80% of losses incurred by their customers respectively. The worst were said to be Danske Bank and Monzo, with 23% and 25% of losses incurred by their customers refunded respectively.
You can find more information and see how your bank compares with others here .
Deepfake scams are back
Deepfake scams are frauds whereby scammers use “synthetic media generated or altered using machine learning to convincingly imitate a real person’s face or actions”.
Which? is currently warning that five celebrities are being impersonated in scams. They include the influencer Andrew Tate. You can learn more about these scams and how to spot them on social media here.
How the government will fight scams
Which? has also reported that the government has launched a new Fraud Strategy aimed at dealing with scammers. In all there are nine measures that the government will be taking to protect the public from scammers. These include victim support, global collaboration and an online crime centre.
You can learn more about these new initiatives here.
Scam Sharer tool
For information on how to share scam warnings and help protect others, see Which?’s Scam Sharer tool.
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