Royal mail phishing and smishing scams have become even more prevalent during the pandemic as many more people started to buy items online for delivery.

Phishing is where the scammer pretends to be from a trusted organisation such as Royal Mail, in order to get confidential information from the victim. This is usually by email or telephone. Smishing is the name for this when done through text messages.

These eight arrested men used a scam where they sent out floods of text messages to people pretending to be from Royal Mail, telling the recipient that a package was due for delivery but a fee needed to be paid first.

Anyone clicking the link in the text ended up at a fake website which steals their confidential information and passes it to the scammers, who may then be able to empty their accounts.

These eight men were arrested over a large scale smishing operation.

As with many scams, most recipients will know to delete the messages, but when done on a large enough scale, the scammers make money.

Recently, researchers have estimated a more than 600% increase in this type of scam related to Royal Mail.

Police officers from the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) tracked and arrested the eight men following an extensive operation. DCPCU is a specialist unit of the City of London and Metropolitan Police and they conducted a series of early morning raids across London, Coventry, Birmingham and Colchester.

The DCPCU is funded by the banking and cards industry and they managed to recover numerous customers’ financial details, enabling these bank accounts to be protected.

DCI Gary Robinson, who leads the DCPCU, said “The success of these operations shows how through our close collaboration with Royal Mail, the financial services sector, and mobile phone networks, we are cracking down on the criminals ruthlessly targeting the public”.

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

www.ofcom.org.uk

OFCOM is the UK regulator for Television, radio and video sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and the broadcast frequencies.

A spam text is any Marketing text message sent to your mobile phone where you have not previously given them permission to send the texts and it is illegal for anyone to send you these unsolicited text messages without that permission.

If there is an existing customer relationship between you and the sender, the business can send you text messages about similar products and services, as long as you are given the ability to opt out of receiving such messages.

This law does not cover messages sent to business numbers, so there’s less you can do to stop spam texts to your business.

STOP

If you receive a text message from a sender you are familiar with, or from a shortcode (usually 5 digits long but can be up to 8), reply ‘STOP’ to the sender and that should be last such message.

However, if the text is from someone you don’t recognise then replying with any kind of message might be seen as an invitation to them to keep sending messages to you whether you want them, or not.

Instead, you can report the text to your network operator – forward the text to 7726 (it spells out spam on the keyboard).

Complaining to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Making a complaint is simple. You can do it online, by phone or by post, and it is a quick process.

The ICO has powers to investigate any suspected breaches of the regulations, and take enforcement action against any organisation breaching the rules.

You can complain to the ICO as follows:

Phone the helpline on 0303 123 1113

through the ICO website at https://ico.org.uk/

by post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

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

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.

Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street’s oldest and most prestigious banks was charged with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids companies or individuals from paying foreign governments to retain business. The bank will have to pay $2.9 billion in fines over its involvement in a Malaysian bribery scheme.

$1.3 billion will go to the Justice Department; $606 million to Malaysia; $400 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and $154 million to the Federal Reserve. The rest will be split among foreign financial regulators in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Justice Department alleged that Goldman Sachs ignored signs of fraud among some of its senior bankers in a scheme that ultimately led to a Malaysian government-backed economic development corporation being defrauded out of $2.7 billion. About $1.6 billion was used to pay officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to secure work issuing and selling bonds in international markets.

Goldman earned $600 million in fees for helping that corporation, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, raise $6.5 billion to support energy development in Malaysia, but much of the money was looted, with some used to buy luxury real estate and yachts.

The Malaysian branch of Goldman reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Malaysian prosecutors in July and pleaded guilty to violating federal anti-bribery law in a Brooklyn federal court. Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Kuala Lumpur court for money-laundering connected with the scandal.

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