Category: Fight Back

How to Identify a Scam

If you come across a scam – a strange text message from someone you knew years ago or an email about a fortune waiting for you or an official letter you’re not sure about or you wonder if that holiday offer too good to be true – how do you identify whether it’s a scam or not.

If it is a scam, then how does that work and what you should you do if you’ve been scammed or someone tried to con you?

The website at https://identify.fightbackonline.org has the answer for you.

It offers a list of descriptions of scams and you select the one that is the closest match to the one you’ve come across.

It then tells you about how the scam operates and what you should do and can offer further help if needed or a list of recommended experts and more.

Give it a try  https://identify.fightbackonline.org

If you have any experiences with scammers do let me know, by email.

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Which? Launches Scam Alerts

Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, carrying out research into goods and services and providing expert recommendations, campaigning for consumer rights and more.

Now, Which? has launched a free scam alerts to notify people about the emerging scams, how to avoid them and the steps to take if you’ve lost money.

Those registered will receive regular warnings and examples of scams, plus tips on how to spot scams and how they can be reported.

Which? also give advice on how you can get your money back if you’ve been affected by a scam.

Which? is a highly trusted organisation, used by a very large number of people, so this new service can potentially be of benefit to millions of people.

Which? tips to help you avoid being scammed

  1. Legitimate organisations never ask you for your bank details or payments out of the blue.
  2. Never give cold callers your personal information – including address, date of birth, financial information etc.
  3. Banks will never call you to ask you to transfer your money into another bank account, claiming that your account security is at risk.
  4. Scammers will often want to push you to rush a decision and not take the time needed to think it through. So, always stop and think.
  5. If something seems odd, take a moment out to think it through. Check the details and ask a friend or relative for their opinion or find a way to verify or disprove their story.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Rightly Data

Rightly is all about the privacy of your data and how to get copies of your data from the myriad of companies that hold such data on you.

They say that

“Our mission is to make data fairer, for everyone.

We believe that what happens to your data should be up to you.

With Rightly, you can make sure that you’re in control of your data, and keep it that way.”

This is necessary, because too many companies seem to believe that your personal information belongs to them to do with as they wish, including:

  • Collecting your data without full consent
  • Sharing with third parties
  • Selling your information to Marketing companies

The law was changed in 2018 to give everyone the legal right to ask to see what information any company has on them.

You can directly contact any company and make this request and they have 30 days to reply.

But Rightly do make this an easier process as you can fill in their Subject Access Request form free of charge.

Their database of contact details covers more than 10,000 companies.

If you don’t get a reply from the company, then Rightly can also help with that.

A useful service although you can do this for yourself if you wish to and remember that your data belongs to you – not them.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Surrey Use The Banking Protocol

Surrey Police and local industries stop £2 million of fraud by using the Banking Protocol scheme.

Surrey Police worked with branch staff at local banks, building societies and Post Offices to stop £740,000 worth of fraud through the Banking Protocol rapid scam response in 2020.

Launched in 2016, the Banking Protocol is a UK-wide scheme, developed in partnership between UK Finance, local police forces and National Trading Standards. The protocol oversaw the training of branch staff to spot the warning signs that suggest a customer may be falling victim to a scam, before alerting their local police force to intervene and investigate the suspected fraud.

In 2020, the Banking Protocol was invoked 164 times in Surrey and there have been 20 arrests in the county and £2 million saved since the protocol began.

The banking industry is working with law enforcement to build on this success and expand the scheme to telephone and online banking. These proposals would deliver a police response to the homes of vulnerable victims who have attempted to make a payment via online or telephone banking that has been flagged as potentially being part of a scam.

Customers would first be asked by the bank to visit their local branch to complete the transaction, enabling branch staff to carry out additional checks and use the Banking Protocol if necessary. If the customer is unable to visit their bank branch, for example if they are vulnerable or have a disability, staff would be able to directly alert the local police who will make a visit to the customer’s home and assess whether they have fallen victim to a scam.

An Example from The Police

This is what happened to a 47-year-old man in Surrey recently:

The man was approached by two men on his doorstep offering to clear his gutters. The man declined this service and the men left.

The following day, the man was approached by the same two men from the day before, claiming they had cleared his gutters and required payment of £2,000. The victim offered to pay by cheque but they refused and demanded cash.

The man visited his bank branch to withdraw £2,000 in cash. Bank staff were concerned that a scam may be taking place, so refused the withdrawal and called police, evoking the Banking Protocol.

A police officer attended the branch and spoke with the man, confirming he had been the victim of a scam. Thankfully, the bank’s actions meant that no money was lost and the victim received the appropriate safeguarding.

Well done the Police and the banks.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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The Banking Protocol Scheme

Under the Banking Protocol scheme, branch staff are trained to detect the warning signs that someone is being scammed and make an emergency call to the police. Police will then visit the branch to investigate the suspected fraud and arrest any suspects still on the scene.

The scheme has now prevented £116 million in scams since it was introduced three years ago.

The Banking Protocol allows bank branch staff to contact police if they suspect a customer is in the process of being scammed, with police making an immediate priority response to the branch. This can prevent customers from falling victim to fraud, while allowing police to catch the fraudsters in the act.

Over 100 suspected fraudsters were arrested through the initiative in the first half of this year. These range from rogue traders who demand cash for unnecessary work on people’s property, to courier scam fraudsters who persuade their victims take out a large sum of cash and hand it over to someone posing as a courier.

Customers would first be asked by the bank to visit their local branch to complete the transaction, enabling branch staff to carry out additional checks and use the Banking Protocol if necessary. However, if the customer is unable to visit their bank branch, for example if they are vulnerable or have a disability, staff would be able to directly alert the local police who will make a visit to the customer’s home and assess whether they have fallen victim to a scam.

These scams will only stop when the banks make it too difficult for them to succeed.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Fact Checking Websites

It’s not difficult to build a website that copies or is similar to an established news website — and it’s easy to then post from it onto social media to encourage people to click to get to what they think is a reputable web site but may be the opposite.

Information can spread really fast but not as fast as conspiracy theories and fake news.

There is so much fake news, misinformation and conspiracy theory  around and it’s up to each of us to filter the ‘information’ we take in. Judge everything in it’s context and how trustworthy the source is.

Anyone can publish anything they want subject to libel laws.

Here are some sites that can help identify the truth in amongst the dross and lies.

The BBC Reality Check

www.bbc.com/news/reality_check

This is quality journalism looking at recent claims by high profile figures and analysing the truth or lack of in their statements.

The BBC say “Worried about a story you’ve seen online or on social media? BBC Reality Check is a BBC News service dedicated to clearing up fake news and false stories to find the truth. Examining the facts and claims behind a story to try to determine whether or not it is true”.

Snopes    (www.snopes.com/fact-check/)

Probably the oldest fact-checking site online is Snopes, which has been fact-checking weird stories since before Google had a search engine. They have a long record of being unbiased, showing their work, and keeping up the irreverent tone that true internet nerds love. They’re also great for everything from urban myths to political statements.

FactCheck.org (www.factcheck.org/)

If one of your hobbies is fact-checking the things politicians say, then FactCheck.org can be a big help. The site is a non-partisan “‘consumer advocate’ for voters” that monitors and checks the things people in politics say in “TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.”

Politifact (www.politifact.com/)

Politifact is another one for fact-checking what politicians say.

Washington Post Fact Checker (www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/)

Plenty of expert analysis alongside the fact-checking.  The publication tends to lean liberal, but this tool has a reputation for being non-partisan. They also have a funny Pinocchio graphic that gauges just how big the lie really is.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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